accuracy of Google Translate for the name "Sadaf"

[陳德聰]

If you choose a surname that starts with the same sound as your actual surname, then you can be super creative with your chosen given name. Or, in all honesty, you could just pick a surname and call yourself X珍珠. It’s not a particular artful name, but if you can’t think of a way to use 玭 or 瓔 or 珠(sounds like pig) 璣 in a name that sounds pleasing to your ear, there’s not much else.

[sadaff]

On 3/22/2018 at 3:59 AM, happy_hyaena said:

Off the top of my head: 玉贝 

haha thankyou for your helpp i like the meaning and sound of it,  玉贝 

[sadaff]

On 3/22/2018 at 4:30 AM, Lu said:

Chinese names consist of a family name ('surname') and a given name. The family name usually consists of one character (although two-character surnames do exist), the given name can consist of either one or two characters. There is a limited set of characters that are surname (examples are 张，陈，李 etc). In theory, you can use any character(s) for your given name, but in practice people go with names that have a nice meaning (such as 'jade' or 'brave' or 'smart', or things like 'loves China').

 

When foreigners pick a Chinese name, they usually pick a name that sort-of matches their real name in either sound, meaning or ideally, both.

 

For you, 玉贝 I think would be acceptable, but I think you can do better. I hope someone good at picking names comes by here.

Ohh okay, would the family name be like in Western cultures, the first name?

and thankyou for your help! 玉贝 seems like a popular suggestion

 

[sadaff]

On 3/22/2018 at 6:45 AM, ZC said:

A place to start would be to pick out a surname you like since there are only like 25 that foreign people usually pick their names from. And really none are better than any other it’s just preference.

Ahh okay, i guess i'll be sure to check out the list especially since i'm guessing Chinese surnames are different from Western ones (e.g. like Smith vs. Wang)

[sadaff]

On 3/22/2018 at 4:28 PM, 陳德聰 said:

If you choose a surname that starts with the same sound as your actual surname, then you can be super creative with your chosen given name. Or, in all honesty, you could just pick a surname and call yourself X珍珠. It’s not a particular artful name, but if you can’t think of a way to use 玭 or 瓔 or 珠(sounds like pig) 璣 in a name that sounds pleasing to your ear, there’s not much else.

Ah so i guess it all comes down to picking a surname and building off that more or less. thankyou for the suggestions! 

[Lu]

33 minutes ago, sadaff said:

Ohh okay, would the family name be like in Western cultures, the first name?

In most Western cultures, the family name comes last. Take James Bond, for example: James is his given name, Bond is his family name (because he got it from his father (probably)). James comes first, so it's also called his first name. Bond is his last name, or surname.

 

In Chinese, 'first name' and 'last name' doesn't really work. Take for example Zhang Ziyi. Zhang is her family name (because she got it from her father, whose name is Zhang Yuanxiao). Ziyi is her given name. But unlike James Bond, Zhang comes first, Ziyi comes last.

 

As to picking a name, you can also start with a given name and pick a surname that goes well with it.

[imron]

9 hours ago, sadaff said:

玉贝

开始!

[Lu]

2 hours ago, imron said:

12 hours ago, sadaff said:

玉贝

开始!

Ok don't pick 玉贝.

[Publius]

1 hour ago, Lu said:

4 hours ago, imron said:

14 hours ago, sadaff said:

玉贝

开始!

Ok don't pick 玉贝.

You guys gave her the idea. You break it, you own it.

I find 萨达芙 perfectly fine. I even think sounding foreign is exactly what is needed. She's writing a fan letter to her idol. I could see him more responsive to an exotic name from a faraway land.

[sadaff]

@Publius hah thankyou for the feedback! i ended up putting 萨达芙 so hopefully he understands that i'm simply a fan from a faraway place