Does my Chinese Name make sense?

[ShaoRan]

Ni hao!

I want to translate my Name into Chinese and want it to be phonetically + pinyin-wise as close as possible to my western name, as well as have the characters reflect something about my persona instead of just being random words.

 

What I therefore wanted to go with is Shao Rán (烧燃), because I was born in the Year of the Fire Rat but it also reflects on my explosive temper (flaw) and passionate personality (virtue) plus it's associated with the colour Red, which is my favourite colour. So it basically checks off 5 things off my list: it's more or less identical to western name; reference to birth; favourite colour; my personality and implied dualism (by having the "same" word twice) because fire/burning can be both positive and negative as it can destroy and preserve life at the same time.

 

BUT! Shao Rán 烧燃 is literally the inversion of the word Combustion 燃烧 and I don't know if that makes the name ... illegal? Well, in terms of naming rules anyhow!

 

If it doesn't make sense / isn't allowed, then I have a few other alternatives up my sleeve. This is just my favourite combination of characters, haha.

 

Xiexie!

 

- Shao Rán (perhaps)

[Lu]

Unfortunately, 烧燃 is just not good as a name. It looks like something you do with a pan on a stove, not like a name.

You could perhaps pick something starting with 晓. Sounds like Xiao, it has the sun in it (which is plenty fiery), and it has the advantage of being a very normal Chinese name character. I was thinking you might even consider 晓然, but as it turns out that's an actual verb, so that would not be a good name either.

[Mandarincave]

You may also consider the followings:

冉熽 rǎn xiào

邵燃 shào rán

 

It is typical to choose characters with 火 as radical as first name to improve the element of fire among Chinese.

 

And 冉 and 邵 are normal surnames.  

 

[yibeikafei]

A good rule of thumb is to always go with a character that is normally used as a surname as your first character. This way you will avoid many awkward moments and misunderstandings, if you live in China or meet lots of Chinese speaking people. As mandarincave suggested, 邵 is the only shao surname that I can think of, I think it's quite rare actually. If you do not what 邵 as your last name, your next best bet is to choose a surname that somehow fits your actual surname and keep Shaoran as your given name. For example Li Shaoran etc. Your character is reflected by your given nime and you can choose whichever shao character that you like (or at least you have more than that 1 option: 邵）
I totally understand that you want your name to have character but in my opinion, complex and innovative names do not always work so well in Chinese. There are often some strange associations with words that you might not find in the dictionary description. I agree with Lu that 烧燃  gives me the feeling that its a tool, or a machine in an engine room, or something like a barbeque or a stove, I am not sure. Maybe that's your thing and I respect that but the meaning that you find in it will probably be lost on other Chinese speakers. I recommend you to google words that are often used in names, you will definitely find a list somewhere. Or google "shaoran" and see what characters do Chinese people who have the name shaoran often use (or check facebook, weibo etc.). You can take those as a generalized suggestion, and decide if you wanna add your own creative touch or not after that. You might want to keep in mind that some characters may have (female) gender associations (masculine names are often used by women and men alike, while feminine sounding names are usually used by women, although thankfully its not so much of a rule set in stone). 

A few suggestions:

邵然  (Gender neutral, 然 is a well known and often used character in names. But it doesn't have the associations that you are looking for)
邵燃 (I agree with Mandarincave's comment on this, it seems to fit your criteria best.)

邵苒 (Feminine gender association)

邵冉 (Gender neural)

If you are willing to choose a new surname, you would have many more options! For example 晓然 mentioned by Lu, could be a name (although it is also a verb), but it needs a surname at the beginning. 晓 is a common character that is often used in names. 

Lastly, definitely google your name after choosing it, just to see how common it is. Perhaps, it is the name of a well-known celebrity (or worse: a historical figure) and then, suddenly, it is not only a name, but also a statement and those kind of things end up haunting you for life, just saying