Looking for second opinions on my Chinese name

[edardna]

Hello, everyone!

 

And so there came the moment in which I must settle on a Chinese name. My present choice has been OK'd by the few native speakers I know, but, unwilling to take the risk of eventually evoking the wrong kind of associations, I guess it's only sensible to gather the most advice I can. I'm open to completely new suggestions as well.

 

The Chinese name I settled on is 孙保露。孙 seemed a good translation of my last name, as "Piá" is a local term for "kid" ("de Andrade", on the other hand, is a very common locative surname of Galician origin, ultimately a genitive form of "Andrew", ultimately related to the Ancient Greek term for "man" -- so, little to draw from semantically). I like 保露 better than the most common Chinese transliteration (保罗), as it reflects more accurately how the name is pronounced where I come from; I also like the character better, both its form and its meaning (ranging from "dew" to matters related to transparency, exposedness, etc).

 

So, what do you think? No undesired homophones, murderous ancient namesakes or other grounds for ridicule?

Thank you all.

[Tomsima]

http://image.baidu.com/search/index?tn=baiduimage&ps=1&ct=201326592&lm=-1&cl=2&nc=1&ie=utf-8&word=保露

 

my first thought when I read 保露 was the close sounding and in frequent use 暴露. Baidu appears to agree, just something to consider, as 保罗 is something a Chinese person will understand, but 保露 is not and some people may well think you as a foreigner are saying 暴露 with a wrong tone.

[heifeng]

I agree with the above. That was my first impression as well.  Here are also some points to consider:

 

1) Many (not all) nonnative Chinese speakers may have trouble with the Lu sound (for example lack of differentiation with  U and Ü, etc. even with different initials). So only use a Lu character in your name if you have really mastered it or you may get confused looks because it still may be quite different from how this syllable is pronounced in your mother tongue. 

 

2) For the character 保，there are several popular male names that use this character, (Example: surname+保国.) Thus 保 is an OK character to have in a male name. (Although I have know a few with 宝 as well...). That being said the character following 保in a non transliteration should (IMHO) be meaningful since 保 comes before it, BUT also avoid sounding anywhere close to the words 暴露 & 暴力...and I suppose 保安.

 

3) Fast forward to your future introductions and if you are very confident in your ability to say in Chinese which characters you are using when making introductions  (i.e. 保护的保， 露水的露) or something, then by all means use which characters you like and use it as a conversational starter. It's not your real legal name and you can change it next week if you like....or until the business cards run out, etc.

 

 

 

[imron]

7 hours ago, heifeng said:

For the character 保，there are several popular male names that use this character,

Are there many popular male names that use 露? I mean there probably are males that have this character in their name, but it strikes more as a character that would appear in a female name.

[heifeng]

It's not unheard of in male names but it definitely appears in female names too.

 

[陳德聰]

I definitely thought OP was using 露 for its lòu reading since their name is “Paolo” and not “Paolu,” though I don’t think 露 in names is ever pronounced lòu.

[roddy]

15 hours ago, edardna said:

I like 保露 better than the most common Chinese transliteration (保罗), as it reflects more accurately how the name is pronounced where I come from; I also like the character better, both its form and its meaning

I'd be reluctant to take an established transliteration and make minor changes - there's likely to be an assumption you just got it wrong. I'd either start from scratch, or stick to the usual one.

[Lu]

17 hours ago, edardna said:

孙 seemed a good translation of my last name, as "Piá" is a local term for "kid" ("de Andrade", on the other hand, is a very common locative surname of Galician origin, ultimately a genitive form of "Andrew", ultimately related to the Ancient Greek term for "man" -- so, little to draw from semantically).

So basically your surname is Child of Man ? I like how you came up with 孙  from that, very suitable.

 

露 to me sounds rather feminine, but that might partly be because it is my own name. I don't think I've ever met a man with that 露 in his name, but that doesn't mean they don't exist of course. Don't know if 保路 or 保陆 is a better option?

[arrow]

保 and 露 are perfect choices in names, but together, a little weird, bad transliteration kind of weird.

[Publius]

If you're aiming for Baolu (which I believe is how Paolo is pronounced in Brazilian Portuguese), consider 孙宝禄.

[edardna]

Thank you all for the thoughtful answers! I reckon I didn't quite consider some pragmatical aspects of, as Roddy puts it, making minor changes to an established transliteration. The fact that the character I chose does seem to appear more often in female names could certainly make for additional noise in the communication, much to the chagrin of this neophyte in the language.

 

On 7/1/2018 at 6:03 AM, Publius said:

If you're aiming for Baolu (which I believe is how Paolo is pronounced in Brazilian Portuguese), consider 孙宝禄.

 

I love this suggestion. To begin with, you got it right: I'm aiming at the Brazilian Portuguese pronunciation, a common feature of which is the raising of the unstressed final vowels (/o/ -> [u ~ ʊ]). And then I really like the fact that 宝禄 is not only a perfect phonetic match, but also wouldn't immediately betray that I'm foreign (even though I'm not actually sure of the desirability of not letting this shine through). Different from 保罗, it is not so much a transliteration as an actual name used by Chinese people, right? I admit that the meaning of 宝禄 seems a little too hung up on financial success for my liking, but I guess taking better care of my financial life is after all an admonition I should take heed of.

 

I tried to find a list of Chinese given names incl. pinyin in order to look for other such fortuitous transliterations, but wasn't able to find one. If anyone knows where to look for, I would be very grateful.

 

On 6/29/2018 at 5:56 AM, Lu said:

So basically your surname is Child of Man ?

 

That's great! I had never thought of the biblical undertones of this mixed Portuguese-Amerindian family name of mine. Thanks for the insight.

[edardna]

OK, so I'm back after having thumbed through (more precisely, scrolled through) a book that purports to guide us in the choice of 'auspicious and elegant Chinese names'; let's see how these suggestions fare, if I may once again count on your thoughtful and helpful feedback. (If anyone is asking themselves, the reason I'm attaching great importance to picking the right name is because the name I'll use to fill out the university documents in a couple of weeks is already the definitive one, which will eventually figure in the diploma.)

 

As it stands, I'm leaning towards 宝禄 ; it really was a great tip from Publius. My only concern in this regard is that it may sound too "shallow" or "materialistic" to have two characters with a connotation of (material) wealth.

(As an aside: do you think it could possibly be better to adopt a name that is an obvious transliteration of a foreign one, such as 保罗?)

 

I'll list below the other options I've collected and why I like them. I've decided to be more flexible regarding the phonological similarity to my Portuguese name.

• 宝林 - I gravitate towards names with characters that signify, and especially depict, nature. It also sounds like the affectionate name my family calls me.
• 百禄 - A variation on 宝禄.
• 葩武 - Fragility and might - seems beautiful to me. Combined with the family name 孙, however, it doesn't sound so well.
• 普连 - Now that I read it again, I think it may be a little tacky and over-the-top for someone working in an intercultural environment.
• 布令 - I like this very much, but I'm not sure if its meaning is transparent. It comes from a sentence of the 礼记 that reads as follows: “布得和令，行庆惠施“. In the translation I've seen: "Spread the policy of benevolence, holding ceremony, sharing generosity". I'm also not sure in which tone 令 should be read here.
• 博良 - Or maybe some variation such as 博禄, 博伦 or even--who knows--博柳?
• 柏仑 - I think this may sound ridiculous, but, as I said, I'm drawn to nature-related characters.
• 若水 - It doesn't sound at all like my original name, but I've included it among the contenders because it is just so nice.

 

I know these are lots of names, but your feedback would really be a fundamental assist. I have no clue as to which of these names sound good or just plain odd to the native (and, well, the non-native expert) ear. Once again, I thank you all for your gentle help!

 

[Lu]

百禄: if you're not too keen on a materialistic name, I wouldn't pick this one, as it still means something along the lines of 'lots of riches and good fortune'.

[陳德聰]

I like 孫寶林, 孫博良, and 孫柏侖. Possibly 孫柏侖 the most out of all of them.

[edardna]

Thank you Lu and 陳德聰 for your replies. In the end, I decided to settle on 孙博良. I asked the same question in two other fora, and this option received the most support in both of them (as in here, as per 陳德聰's answer).

 

On 7/13/2018 at 6:42 PM, 陳德聰 said:

 Possibly 孫柏侖 the most out of all of them. 

May I ask why is that so? Even though I read a bit on the subject, my aesthetic assessment of Chinese names is quite undeveloped and all too much cerebral.

[mungouk]

These name threads are very interesting! Please excuse me diving in with a question.

 

On 7/14/2018 at 5:42 AM, 陳德聰 said:

孫柏侖

 

Would it be common to use traditional characters rather than simplified for a person's name in PRC?  Is that an aesthetic decision or some other reason?

 

侖 and 仑 are visually quite different.

[imron]

1 hour ago, mungouk said:

Would it be common to use traditional characters rather than simplified for a person's name in PRC?

No, and in fact, everywhere there, by law, would just use the simplified variants:  孙柏仑.

[mungouk]

19 hours ago, imron said:

everywhere there, by law, would just use the simplified variants

 

By law, really?  Well that clarifies it a bit.

 

So anyone here who's choosing a Chinese name for using in PRC as a student or to work has to use simplified characters... end of story?

[Bibu]

how about 白露？from Book of Songs, The most cited reference for Chinese naming, 屠呦呦。。。。

 

 

蒹葭苍苍，白露为霜。

[imron]

6 hours ago, mungouk said:

 

By law, really? 

Yes. I forget what the relevant law or regulation is, and am on mobile so can't be bothered to look it up, but with the exception of certain signage using Traditional for artistic effect, use of simplified text in any official capacity is mandated.