Do You have a Chinese name?
January 12, 2008 – 12:37 pmI just got my Chinese name. It has been a long journey, but now my girlfriend gave me my new name.
jùn jié. Which could be translated as very talented person. However jùn has more meanings beside talented. It also means smart or handsome. I’ll go with these 2 instead of talented. jié alone means heroic or hero. So my name should mean Smart and Handsome Hero. That’s cool, isn’t it? Actually this is only a first name, a family name is still missing. More thought has to be put into a family name for me. Maybe I should just wait until I’m married and then add the family name of my spouse to this first name.
How do I get my own Chinese name?
First You could look at mandarintools.com. They have a Chinese name generator. There are other generators out there which simply try to find a Chinese name that sounds similar to Your Western name. However I don’t recommend these generators as the names generated often sound artificial sometimes even strange to a Chinese person.
It’s a better idea to get a real Chinese name based on Your characteristics, because generated names often sound artificial and they don’t represent Your character and they put You in the laowai corner.
So how do I get a real Chinese name? You have to spend time with another Chinese person, so he or she gets to know You. Then this person can give You a real Chinese name. This name might not sound similar to Your real name, however it describes You better. Additionally a non generated name is more natural. If You sign a letter with this name the receiver will think You are a real Chinese person. He might be surprised when he sees You in real life.
Why would I need a Chinese name at all?
I put this question at last, because I think most readers won’t ask. Those who are new to Chinese culture, here is Your explaination:
When You talk to Chinese persons whose English is not so good, they will have a hard time understanding and remembering Your Western name. To make their life easy You tell them Your Chinese name. Especially when You stay in China for a long time You do want to have a Chinese name.
Chinese persons also want to make Your life easier. Apart from their real Chinese name they often have English names only for the Westerners. Remembering names in a foreign language can be really hard sometimes.
Not for official use
One word of warning. Your Chinese name is meant to ease up communication with the Chinese. However when You sign a official document like a employment contract by all means use Your real name. Otherwise You could get into serious trouble. Your Chinese name is just meant for everyday conversation.
Make life easy for Your Chinese homies, get a Chinese name.
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6 Responses to “Do You have a Chinese name?”
What do you think about name phonetic translation?
By Chinese on Jan 16, 2008
Basically these Chinese name generators create a phonetic translation of Your name. That’s why they are there.
You could also get a phonetic translation by a real person. The good thing about a real person making a phonetic translation for You is they will weed out total stupid names.
The best thing would be a name that is a phonetic translation AND a representation of Your character. However this will be really hard to do and could take a long time, if possible at all. So You either go with a phonetic translation or a name that suits Your personality.
I favor names that are based on my character as I stated above. However the choice is up to You.
By Junjie on Jan 16, 2008
现在大家叫我大牛， 哈哈。。 所以我应该找一个新的，但是我不知道取一个什么名字。。。
I wonder how to get a new one…most ppl already know my old, stupid name, so its very troublesome to change it.. but I absolutely need to, as u can see oO
By Aremonus on Jul 8, 2008
Overall I didn’t use my Chinese name so much. It took me time to teach my European name to the Chinese people, however it worked out fine quite fast.
Before my current stay here in China I believed I absolutely do need a Chinese name, but it’s not true really. I still keep my Chinese name here on the blog, in real life I didn’t use it for months.
By Junjie on Jul 9, 2008