What are the connotations of these Chinese names?

[Meghan]

Hello! My name is Meghan, and I am planning on studying/working in China in the future. In my current Chinese classes in the US, I go by 何美安, but I'm considering whether I should go by a name that is a more direct transliteration of Meghan when I go to China. 

 

I was wondering what you all think of the connotations of these names:

 

-美安

-梅根

-美根

-美感

 

I'm also trying to figure out which one would fit me best. I'm interested in international diplomacy and China-US relations, which I think kinda fits 美安, and I also study environmental public health. I'm a very optimistic, friendly person if that is applicable. Any advice or suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

[889]

Just hinting at your English name is fine, and of those choices I'd say 美安 is far and away the nicest. The two characters also look well balanced against each other.

 

[大块头]

Reading through the example sentences on Baidu Fanyi and celebrities named Megan on Baidu Baike, it looks like 梅根 is by far the most popular transliteration. I'd go with that personally.

[Publius]

Yes, 梅根 is the standard transliteration, e.g. for Meghan Markle. But the situation is a bit different. Our client has a Chinese surname. 何梅根 doesn't sound like a Chinese name. Also three level tones in a row is not very pleasing to the ear.

I agree 何美安 sounds the best.

梅根 and 美根 are okay.

Just don't choose 美感. It's an existing word. A quite common one actually. Putting a 何 in front of it would make the full name sound like a rhetorical question. It negates any 美感 you could possibly have.

[VocabSplitter]

On 2/9/2019 at 4:49 PM, Meghan said:

I'm also trying to figure out which one would fit me best. I'm interested in international diplomacy and China-US relations, which I think kinda fits 美安, and I also study environmental public health. I'm a very optimistic, friendly person if that is applicable. Any advice or suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

I don't think it's a good idea to go with 美安, because a company named "Market America" is translated to "美安" in Chinese. And that company doesn't have a good reputation among Chinese immigrants in North America, because its business model is called "multi level marketing". And most people would like to avoid a sales person from "美安". So if it's possible, I think it's better to avoid using "美安" as your name.

 

How about not sticking to the pronunciation of your original name? Many Chinese don't stick to the pronunciation of their original names when they choose English names. So maybe you can do the same thing so that you can have more choices?

[Tomsima]

There's always the choice of going with a two character name rather than three, if you aren't fully happy but still want to go the pronunciation route? Just 梅 is nice on its own.

 

[Publius]

Hmm 美安, I just looked it up.

在中国未获得直销牌照 -- no wonder I've never heard of it.

安利成员JR家族修改安利的机制成立 -- no wonder they have a bad name.