Opinion on chinese name

[julimic]

Hi everyone ! Sorry to bother you, I'm currently studying mandarin and preparing my semester abroad in Taiwan. Our teachers asked us to choose a chinese name for the sake of practicality and administrative purposes. I don't want to make a fool of myself there, so I'd rather ask on this forum. I like the name 李雋嫺, especially since it matches well with the meaning and pronunciation of my western name, but it sounds a bit ... boastful ? Please give me your honest opinion? I guess it's worth mentionning that I'm a girl, so while I don't mind an androgynous name, I don't want it to sound hyper-masculine either. Anyway, thanks in advance and have a nice day  !

[889]

Purely from a practical standpoint, I think a name that's easy to say and write has a lot going for it. Juanxian or Junxian strike me as quite a mouthful, and there are an awful lot of strokes in 雋嫺, especially the traditional forms.

 

Usually, asking a well-lettered Chinese friend to pick an appropriate name is the best approach. It's not a good DIY project.

 

 

[陳德聰]

Okay but 李雋嫺 is a perfectly normal name. I think the idea that people learning Chinese should only pick names that are easy to pronounce and write is a bit silly, to be honest.

[julimic]

Thanks for the answers everyone ! Maybe I'll try to look for a name that's a bit easier to write, and as 889 said, asking some native speakers would be a great idea 

[Jim]

I recall someone who chose 王明 on the grounds it was easy to write and say without knowing that their most famous recent namesake was considered a notorious traitor to the Party.

[889]

Did I say "only" did I? It's a valid consideration and a non-inconsequentual one. Not quite the same considerations as picking a name for a native Chinese.

 

And as for inadvertently picking the Chinese equivalent of Adolf as your first name, that's precisely why you should ask that well-lettered friend to pick it for you.

[Publius]

Li3 Jun4xian2 is okay, but Li3 Juan4xian2 is a bit... yeah, quite a mouthful, two similar sounds occurring together, kind of hard to pronounce.

[Shelley]

1 hour ago, 889 said:

Usually, asking a well-lettered Chinese friend to pick an appropriate name is the best approach. It's not a good DIY project.

 

This.

[Flickserve]

4 hours ago, 889 said:

And as for inadvertently picking the Chinese equivalent of Adolf as your first name,

 

You mean in terms of popularity or notoriety?

 

The original name is definitely not a lot of strokes.

 

I am not convinced that having a hard name to pronounce is that much of a detriment. This happens a lot of times in life. For some HK parents, there's a trend to pick rare characters for their children's names. Rare enough that other HK people have no clue how that character is pronounced.

[lips]

乙一 would be good.  Two characters of one stroke each.   If 乙 is too rare a surname, try 丁一.

[陳德聰]

I guess I just take exception to the idea that there is much difference in the consideration that should go into picking a name for native speakers and non-native speakers. A person finds a name that means what they want, sounds how they want, matches their name in their mother language AND happens to also be a normal sounding Chinese name, so they're supposed to give up on that because too many strokes?

[dwq]

3 hours ago, lips said:

乙一 would be good.

A Japanese writer actually uses that as his pen name.

[Tomsima]

I like the original name. The uses of a westerner's Chinese name are different to a Chinese person taking a western name from my experience.

 

A good western name works when it appeals to a native speaker (I'm going with English here, but obviously could be any non-chinese language). That means it doesn't draw bad connotations, often helps 'blend in' overseas (perhaps also for integration with an established overseas Chinese community) and also appeals to that person. I feel like a westerner choosing a Chinese name is slightly different. There is not the same opportunity of integration of foreigners in China (yet…?), and so your Chinese name becomes a platform to express who you are in this culture. Rather than blending in, your Chinese name often has the potential to become a talking point, sometimes a party piece (whether you like it or not).

 

Armed with this knowledge, your choice of Chinese name can become an incredibly useful conversation starter, and help you open up friendships and connections.

 

Easy to remember does not necessarily mean easy to write; funny meaning does not necessarily mean 'stupid foreigner'. (See foreigner on TV with the name 錢多多 and similar). People here will often be able to pronounce your 'real' name (eg. Thomas → 托马斯), so choosing a Chinese name is a conscious decision to display who you are to others. If you choose interesting characters that work as a name and you can talk about why you chose them, you will almost certainly find your name becomes a source of pride for not only yourself but those around you.

李雋嫺 is good (seeing as you are aware of its zhuangbility)

 

[889]

To my eye, a name in simple yet striking characters has advantages for everyone, Chinese or not.

 

We should all learn from 习近平.

[Publius]

What's wrong with 彭麗媛?

 

[lips]

乙一 or 一乙 would give you a couple more minutes in every written test.

[hongputaojiu]

yes I agree with choosing a name without too many strokes in it!

 

My name includes 墨, which was chosen by a chinese friend many years ago. If I had realized when I bought a house in China I would have to sign my chinese name on 16 separate copies of the housing document, and over 20 times on each copy, I  would have gone with 大为 :-)

[Flickserve]

Good writing practice. Extra practice does no harm.

[Lu]

On 05/11/2017 at 4:02 AM, 陳德聰 said:

I guess I just take exception to the idea that there is much difference in the consideration that should go into picking a name for native speakers and non-native speakers

I think a difference between a native speaker picking a name for their child and a foreigner picking their own name is that the native speaker needs to be a bit more conservative in their choices and make sure they don't pick a name that the child will be teased with, a name containing a very rare character, or characters with too many strokes, because there is a real chance the child will not like those things. (Not to say that all native speakers actually take this into account, but it would be a good idea.) The foreigner can decide for themselves whether they want a name that is a bit odd, or has a lot of strokes.

 

I'm not a native speaker and don't have an opinion on the OP's choice, but I like 雋, it's odd.

[DavyJonesLocker]

To this day I never understand  why  foreigners pick a Chinese name. Hardly any Europeans feel the need to pick an English name, we just pronounce as best we can. 

 

The Japanese don't feel a need to pick an English name neither.

 

I have no Chinese name, and no interest in having one. I have been living in China for years and get along just fine:)