This is the best information on Chinese names I've ever seen. I'd love a followup about what makes a name "sound" masculine, feminine, old, young, etc.
My Chinese name is 何天賜. I was often told it sounded very “local” or was “special” but I wasn’t exactly sure why lol. I was in Taichung, Taiwan, and my friends helped me pick it, as it matched well my English name.
Thats definitely a great name! sounds very natural, and the meaning is coool! 天赐 means “ordained by god”, and 何 is not only a good surname but also an interrogative word in ancient Chinese. Thus the whole name can also be comprehended as something like “I'm the master of my own destiny”
文 is a family name which means aticle or culture, but we often don’t link the family name to some meaning, 莉 is a kind of flower 茉莉花 means sweet or something like that,which often used as a girl name .恩 means thanksgiving or gratification.
As a 3rd gen Chinese in South-East Asia, we still practice this here. My 'middle name' 伟 is the same with all my paternal cousins, taken from the word 伟大 meaning "great" or colloquially means "kindness". My "last name" is where the 'lacking element' (wood) was plotted in, which has the character 林 inside, meaning "forest".
"The Laws" @_@ 啊呀！！ This is the most comprehensive and simple explanation regarding Chinese names I've tuned into. Thank you! Listening to you two speak using your native Jiangxi dialects sounds adorable. The distinctive words will take time for me to get use to. Its much easier than Shanghai dialect (everything is easier than Shanghai dialect @_@) Hope you make time to take us through a deep dive into the dialect and its similarities and differences one day. Any excuse to listen to you two speak again would be awesome. Or anyone else from that region. I've been told by quite a few Chinese people that my name isn't Chinese and it sounds strange. I always think this is ok because I'm not Chinese... I do like the idea of taking a character from one of the five elements though. Don't know if I'll ever have a traditional Chinese name, But I'm glad to learn more about the tradition myself. I will share your video to my students and friends who have questions about this topic ... My comments are always so long ... Its because your videos are so interesting! 对不起！！ />.
You didn't talk about courtesy names. They really aren't used anymore (I think my grandfather had one), but it is still interesting to know about. For example, for all you Dynasty Warriors players out there, poster boy Zhao Yun's courtesy name was Zilong, so he would only be addressed or spoken about as Zhao Zilong. Nobody, except perhaps his parents, would call him "Yun." Similarly, Zhuge Liang's courtesy name was Kongming. Such was his reputation that "kongming" can be used to describe a smart person (like, "He's an Einstein").
@@toolatetothestory It is given by the family to men upon reaching adulthood (age 20), and to women, if at all, upon marriage. Only oneself or one's elders used one's given name. Everyone else used the courtesy name - unless they were being rude. I have heard that a courtesy name can change at significant points in life for an achievement, but I did not have any concrete examples. It is therefore a bit different from Roman cognomen. Publius Cornelius Scipo, after defeating Hannibal at Zama and winning the second Punic War, was thereafter given a - there could be more than one - cognomen "Africanus;", Otherwise he a person would be likely be addressed by his familial cognomen, in this case, Scipio. However, if it needed to be made clear that one was talking about *this* member of the family they would just use the nomen and the cognomen, in this case, Cornelius Scipio. I think among family or friends, they would use address each other with the praenomen, in this case, Publius. For the Chinese-influenced would, rulers would get a posthumous temple name. For example, during Emperor Hirohito's life, he would be addressed as "ruling emperor," but after his death, he would be referred to as the Showa Emperor. For the Chinese, the temple name was not necessarily the era name (such as Showa), but it could be used to describe his reign (and it it were bad, he could get a depreciative temple name like "Unlucky"), or just be determined by which generation of ruler he was in his dynasty. For the rest of us, one could get a moniker based upon one's deeds (not necessarily good ones). For example, the character Li Kui in the Water Margin was called "the Black Whirlwind"), or if less (in)famous, could get, what is essentially a title, based upon occupation or place in the family. If someone named Huang Han Nuo were as scholar, he could be spoken to and about as "Scholar Huang," or if his father were still alive and in the community, he might be "Xiao Huang" (little Huang) where his father might be "Lao Huang" (old Huang).
@@hanng1242 I am just trying to do a bit of research to find a realistic sounding name that could fit me, or that I could give to a character that I am writing later on then (I'd just self project onto that character a bit and it should fit xD), but there is so much... From normal names to nicknames to these "Titles" in a way, I need help xD I only named a character Tianfei before, as one example, and then found later that it would probably sound a bit weird to have the same name as a Godess.
I'm a big fan of Chinese dramas and when I heard you speaking to your mom it doesn't sound like Mandarin what language. I'm new to your Chanel and I love that I came across your Chanel excited to learn more about Chinese culture with you : )
Great video! I would like to know more about different ways people can address someone, using part of that person's name. I've watched some Chinese tv series where the use 阿+character, character+子，小+character, or sometimes they repeat the same character twice. So when each style can be used?
Hermánio Silva Hey I'm glad you like it! And how to address someone is mostly personal preference and part of reginal preference, 阿* is specifically common in Guangdong province(Cantonese speaking area) though, for example, when I just came to Guangdong, they called me 阿圆(last character of my name), another one that's common in Guangdong is *仔, only for guys though. *子 is more common in the north I guess? I'm from the south and I have only heard this in northern TV series. Both 小* and ** are quite common, my mom actually called me 圆圆 in the call haha, I didn't add the subtitle for it. This is actually a good point! I didn't even realize this is a thing before you asked, maybe I should make a video about this, and I should definitely give you the credit for it! 😆
When I went to Shanghai, China in 2007 to compete at the Special Olympics World Summer Games, I learned that my Chinese first name is Yuēhàn meaning John and last name is "Bā léi tè" meaning Barrett. It was some amazing to see my Mandarin/Chinese name instead of my actual English/Irish counterpart.
It's NOT your Chinese first name. Yuēhàn is just how Chinese transcribe "John" from Latin/ German Johann from the Bible, & just random words/sounds that sounds like "John Barrett"
I love your videos and the way you explain. I wanted to know how my name would sound phonetically in Mandarin and this what I found, it sounds so cool. 汉斯·霍尔德布兰德 (Hán sī·Huò ěr dé bù lán dé)
The presenter showed us her real Chinese name 😅 “Women didn’t have names.” That’s probably because most of them had an elementary education. My own grandmother 👵🏽 was college educated, and according to my mom, “她有大姓大名”. Thanks to her daddy, aka my mom’s grandpa, aka my great grandpa. As for the single name, it is very common in western literature written by Asian diaspora authors and non-Asian authors to go by just the given name, even if the given name is only one character. I have seen it in a novel. The main character was Ning, I think, and it was a Chinese fantasy novel originally written in English. Another time was a character named something, and it was just one person with a one syllable Chinese name. It was a bilingual Chinese English picture book actually; I also got confused a bit with the Chinese name because it was one character long, and it took me a while to realize it’s a name, not a word. 😅
My in laws are cantonese and when I had my son, they insisted it was their “right” to name my baby. My family is Taiwanese and I asked if this was true. They said in their experience it was the parents who picked the name but everyone was allowed to suggest one. My father in law was very adamant that he got to choose the name, to the point of yelling at us. We negotiated and he put forth a few names until we agreed. Is this normal?
Hi Jessie - loved the video, I've had a long standing interest in naming cultures (probably because in British English we've become someone distant to the meaning of a name and the culture mostly feels like its an arbitrary pick from approved lists, so name meanings are only something we stumble upon later), and it was interesting to hear about the character element to the names. It reminded me of some school friends of Sri Lankan heritage when you spoke about the fortune teller - their names would have to begin with a certain letter (I think based on astrology), and adjusted the spelling of their name based on numerology (presumably in all alphabets that the name was rendered in, but I didn't think to double check the point with them) Mind if I ask - how do Chinese people settle on a western name? Is it just a matter of picking something they like the sound of? Or are there sort of 'hidden rules' for some people and they would always try to pick something that started with a similar sound?
My English teacher in Kindergarten gave me my English name Judy because my Chinese name starts with the sound “Jew”. So getting name from their real names’ pronunciation is definitely a trend. But technically we can pick anything we want, maybe from our idols, maybe from a historical book or novel. My high school classmate gave herself an English name Potato because she loves potato, but apparently it is not a proper English name😢
This video is so interesting! I’m studying Chinese and looking for a name, my family name is also 张 😂. My first name means good daughter/son (it’s gender neutral) and my nick name means warm. So I think I might include the character 温 cuz it’s also pronounced similar to my name (if that’s not weird?). Can you suggest some characters that goes well with it please? 🙏🏻
Hi Candy, 温is also my mom's family name ☺️ It's a common family name but not often seen as part of a first name(I think it's kinda because it's pronounced the same as 瘟which means pestilence) How about 暖 instead? It still means warm and cute for girl names too. I have a few suggestions: 张暖暖/张暖仪/张暖迎 Let me know what you think and hope it helps. 😉
@@ChinesewithJessie Thank you for the insight and suggestions :D I’ve now watched your other video about names and I really like the character 昕 it feels so warm and fuzzy and hopeful! So will 张暖昕 work?
8:54 So that's why its hard to find a lady's real name in the Romance of the three kingdom games. Most of the female characters in the game were named "Shi" as their "given name" but i already know that "Shi" only means something like "lady" for example: "Gan Shi", "Yan Shi" , and "Xiahou Shi". Do correct me if I'm wrong and if this practice was not done during the late Han dynasty era but if it does, then it makes a lot of sense.
The 'Shi' part literally translates to "surname", and the name used here is basically Ms. [surname] or Lady [surname]... so yeah, your summarized explanation is fairly spot-on. And for the record, this practice was done for most of Chinese history as a whole; there's quite a few women whose given names are unknown even if they're related to famous people and are born as late as the 19th century! For example, we don't know the name of Sun Yat-sen's mother, only her surname.
@@AquaEclipse324 in the novels from Liu Cixin there is a male character named Shi Qiang, or Da Shi. How does this work if Shi means lady? Thanks in advance (:
@@louielefou In Chinese, there are many characters with different tones which are transliterated the same in English. The 'Shi' used for surname is 氏 in Chinese, while the 'Shi' in the fictional character you mentioned is 史 in Chinese. 史 is the character's surname and means "history" or "historian".
@@QuizmasterLaw no。。。 But there are special examples. In ancient times, if a child was in poor health and his elders were devout believers, they would Find a monk or Taoist priest to become the child’s master, Then this child will get a religious name（法号、道号）, hoping to gain the blessing of the Buddha or the gods. , And in some cases, wealthy families or bureaucratic aristocrats will let servants become Taoists or monks instead of their children（佛前替身）. In extreme cases, the child is so sick that the doctor can do nonthing, the parents will let the child be a monk give the destiny to the god or Buddha 。
小名in Japanese called 幼名，In ancient times, the child mortality rate was high. Therefore, traditionally, Chinese children were called by small names after they were born. Children born one month, one hundred days, and one year old were all celebrated. It is customary for the child to be named after one hundred days of birth, officially named by the elders or respectable person,。When boys are 20 years old and girls are 16 years old, the coming-of-age ceremony will be held（boy冠礼、girl及笄），Then they will be given a "courtesy name" or "style name" （字），by the elders， Usually by their father or grandfather, maybe teacher。。。 In Japan, children only get official name at the coming-of-age ceremony，“元服”。
Learning about chinese history can be so confusing, like Emperor Li Shimin, era name Zhenguan, temple name Taizong, formerly Prince of Qin. I guess I'm just not used to it, maybe western royalty is as confusing (King Charles III, formerly Charles, Prince of Wales, full name Charles Phillip Arthur George Windsor).
4:09 my parents listen to the fortune teller then i got sick for entire my childhood then they ask a monks for naming me. now im healthy i don't now how it does work but fortune teller sometimes don't bring you fortune
I wasn't gonna comment here since this video is over a year old, but anyone knows what dialect is that on the phone conversation? I'm Hakka and I caught a few words that I understood as Hakka, but the rest is alien to me.
As a Chinese speaker, I don't recommend that; 紅嘴 isn't a Chinese surname, and to name yourself that will probably get you weird looks. 紅 is a very uncommon Chinese surname; but 朱 ("vermillion/red", of about the same meaning) *is* common, so if you want a literally translated name, I'd advise using that as a surname. Many people don't use word-phrases for names, but it's still socially acceptable, if a bit odd. 朱月桂, perhaps?
@@AquaEclipse324 thank you very much🙏 Can you just confirm that the translation of the fist name (Laurel as the plant)月桂 sounds fine? Or is it a bit weird?
@@mautida9998 Technically, 月桂 refers to specifically the _Laurus nobilis_ species that's grown in Europe, but other than that, it's fine. I personally think having 月桂 as a name sounds fine - it would be a little odd because it's already a codified word-phrase in the dictionary, but I've heard of other people that have this type of name, so it should be okay.
My wife Name Wang Jia Mei ... family name Wang .....after she convert to Muslim ....I didn't change her name and put same name .... because respect to her parents... actually add the Muslim name ...but my country now allowed if meaning it's good .....I know her when I study together in Hong Kong University ...from Malaysia
真 is a very very rare surname that I don’t think it really exists… Foreigners’ name can be somewhat unique so maybe it is acceptable. I personally would prefer 卫（or魏）胜实. 卫/魏 sounds like the “Ve” part in your name; 胜 means victory and 实 means reality/truth. Or you can do 卫/魏胜利. It is a good local name but sounds like a guy in his 60s.
I choosed my name as 艺惠 ! I don't have much ideas about this .. but I saw this is a girl's name and 艺 means art .. so it's goes with me . I didn't choose a surname though . I don't seriously know what to choose .. my original surname is paul .
I first chose the surname 洪 as it’s close my last name and I would like 龙 as I was born in year of dragon but I don’t want to copy Bruce Lee, how about 圣龙 or 道龙 or 祖龙 ? Which might pair best with 洪 ?
i've never seen someone being reffered to by their middle name(it used to be a thing in france and belgium as late as the early twentieth century though) is it something that people do? a lot of people in my father's family have Ghislain or Ghislain in their name because he's the saint patron who protects babies and my great-grand mother had a lot of miscarriages and she did that to protect them, my grand mother perpetuated the tradition. For my generation we have the names of our godparents or great parents. my mom didn't want to give me one but since i was born in Brussels, they required it for the form (i'm glad i got a middle name, i'd feel robbed without one) she chose Timothé because it was my sister/godmother's favorite. Now most people prefer timothé on me, might look for something that sounds like this as i chose a chinese name (加布里埃尔 is really long) i think of maybe something that sounds soft and gentle (that's why my mom chose my name) and i'd like something more gender neutral. If the name is good enough for the prince of my country, it's good enough for me i guess^^. My last name gets transliterated as 汉森 i think it's visualy pretty, i know the characters and it sounds good but i hope it doesn't come across as odd (i believe if we were to translate it it'll be the Woods of the Han people which sounds like it has more meaning than it does i just find it peculiar to link myself with the Hans not being Han myself... Just googled the Hansa - a group of marchants from where my ancestors where in the middle ages that have some significance in the Dutch and Flemish histories and its translated as 汉萨 on wikipedia, i can roll with that "The forest of the Hanseatic League" nonsense, but cute I'm gonna research the hansa a bit more to make sure i want associate myself with them, tho
My Chinese name is Zhang Aizu. It's kinda weird tho 😅 Edit: Jien mhux Ċiniż. Jien Malti, u jekk hawn min jitkellem biċ-Ċiniż...sewwa, taf x'għandek tagħmel!
Very well done! :-D I have a question since i am very interested in chinese and korean names. Take for example the chinese HUO YUAN JIA. Which is the correct/right way to write his given name: 1) YUAN JIA 2) YUANJIA I mean should there be a space between the 2 kanjis of the given name? Or should the 2 names be written as 1? Thanks. :-)
Hi Chris, If you're talking about Chinese writings, we write Chinese characters instead of Pinyin (I talked about what Pinyin is and its relationship with Chinese characters in this video: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE--Ku38jrr58c.html). By HUO YUANJIA I suppose you mean the famous Chinese martial artist, his name in Chinese would be written as 霍元甲. But in English it would be written as Huo Yuanjia, no space between the give name and only H and Y are in capitals, just like your name Chris Bach. Not sure if this makes sense to you and please let me know if you have any questions, I would be happy to explain. 😊
@@ChinesewithJessie Hi Jessie, thank you very much for your fast reply! :D Yes that helps me a lot. You know i am very interested in asian names, be it japanese, korean or chinese. I also read the Wikipedia articles about it, and there it says even the UNO has adopted to write chinese given names as one name, means not Yuan Jia but Yuanjia instead, like you said it too. I just wanted to ask a real chinese about this subject. :-) And yes of course i ment the great chinese martial arts master Huo Yuanjia. Jet Li portrayed him in the movie "Fearless", and Bruce Lee portrayed his student Chen Zhen in "Fist of Fury". When i take for example an other name like the chinese folklore hero Wong Fei Hung: Is it also correct to write then name as Wong Feihung? I know this is cantonese, in mandarin his name is written as Huang Feihong. I can only say to as a westerner (PS: Sorry for my average English, its not my first language) it is easier to avoid confusion by writing the given name as one name instead of two. I make an example: 1) Xi Jin Ping 2) John Fitzgerald Kennedy We all know Fitzgerald was the middle name of John Kennedy, but his given name was John. If a westerner reads the name Xi Jin Ping, he would likely think "Jin" is a meaningless middle name, and that only "Ping" is his given name. But if the name is written as "Jinping", nobody will think Jin could be a middle name or Ping his given name. My question is simple: Is it ok to write chinese given names, which mostly consists of 2 kanjis, as 1 name? Not Yun Jia but Yunjia, not Fei Hung but Feihung, not Jin Ping but Jinping, not Jun Fan but Junfan, etc? Thank you so much! Greetings :-)
@@NDoraku Hi Chris, that's an interesting question. First of all, "kanji" refers to Japanese character, Chinese characters are 汉字(hàn zì). Second of all, as I mentioned before, writing Chinese names as letters is the western way so westerners can pronounce them, and you yourself mentioned too, writing it as 1 name is to let westerners not confuse the given name with the surname. Since it served its purpose I suppose it's okay. After all, languages are for us to communicate, that's why all these adjustments are made. Just like we transliterate English names into Chinese characters so Chinese people can pronounce them. e.g. Jason Statham - 杰森·斯坦森; Scarlett Johansson- 斯嘉丽·约翰逊. Do English speakers think it's okay to write English names as these Chinese characters? I don't know and I don't think it matters. Just some personal thoughts though.
@@ChinesewithJessie Yes i agree with you. The buttom line is the best way to do it is to make it as easy as possible in your own language to understand, thats what counts most. I just saw the Wikipedia article for the chinese General 年羹堯. And his english page also writes the name like this: Nian 年 (family name) Gengyao 羹堯 (given name) Thank you so much again for your reply! :D And also thx for the chinese han zi for Statham and Johansson. :) I wish you all the best and stay healthy (pandemic)!
Maybe, it sounds 60% masculine but you can make it work. There is an actor named 李光洁 so 光洁 sounds more masculine to me. But don’t worry about it. My own name is neutral as well and I have the same name as a lot of guys haha
Maybe 裴颜开péi yán kāi? I think this name mimics your actual name’s pronunciation, and since your name means your presence make other happy, 喜笑颜开is a phrase to express “light someone up”, it matches your real name’s meaning
Oh god. I just want to give a fictional character an accurate name, but boy this is complicated xD I think this is gonna be very difficult if you can't read the language... Like me xD
