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How Do Chinese People Name a Chinese Name

The surnames of Chinese people appeared during the matriarchal society. How do Chinese people give themselves a good name? This time we will give a presentation of Chinese people naming themselves.


The surname has roughly several origins as follows:
1.With the first name of the mother as the surname of the clan in the matriarchal society.
2.With the creatures worshiped in remoter antiquity as the surname, such as 马(mǎ-
horse),牛(niú-cattle),羊(yáng-sheep),龙(lóng-dragon),etc.
3.With ancient states’ names as surname, such as 韩 hán,zhào,宋sòng,秦qín,吴,etc.
4.With ancient official titles eventually adopted as the surname, such as 司马 and 司徒.
5.With the rank or title of nobility as the surname.
6.With the location and scene in residential places as the surname.
7.With the profession as the surname. For instance the person who makes pottery has the surname of 陶(táo-
pottery).
8.With ancestors’ official and courtesy names as the surname. For example, the Chinese national ancestor was named 轩辕xuān yuán , which later became a surname.
Hundred Family Surnames
Some are one-character surnames, while others are compound surnames made up of two or more characters. Up to now, there is no exact statistic on how many surnames there are in China. Contemporary Chinese use about 3,500 Chinese surnames. Among the 100 commonly used surnames, the three most common are 李(lǐ), 王(wáng)and 张(zhāng); 诸葛(zhū gě), 欧阳(ōu yáng), 司徒(sī tú)and 司马(sī mǎ)are common compound surnames.

In China, the surname comes first, and is followed by the given name, and the later has its own traditions and features. It can have one or two characters. In the same clan, the given name is arranged in the order of seniority in the family hierarchy. And the given names of the peers usually have one Chinese character in common if there are more than one character in their given names.


The names of the ancients were more complicated than those of the modern people. People of literacy and status have both a style name and an alternative name, along with the surname and given name. For example, the poet 李白(lǐ bái)in the Tang Dynasty had a style name 太白(tài bái). He lived in Qinglian Village in Sichuan province in his childhood, and thus he had an alternative name青莲居士
qīng lián jū shì ).

Teacher Icy is telling us her name's meaning. Her surname is a very popular common one and also famous for her ancestor Guanyu who lived till BC 220. And we know that Icy's surname is guān, and given name is xuě-snow).

Chinese names usually have a certain meaning, expressing some kind of wish. Some names embody the location, time or natural phenomenon when they were born, such as Jing(Beijing). In the modern times, male names are different from female ones; men’s names usually have the character meaning power and vigor, such as Hu(tiger), Long(dragon), Xiong(bear), Wei(magnificence), Gang(hardness) and Qiang(strength). The names of females usually use characters representing gentleness and beauty, such as Feng(phoenix), Hua(flower), Yu(jade), Cai(colors), Juan(graceful), and Jing(quiet).

Update: 05-11-2017 14:48 View:

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