1. Start with Your Last Name

If you want to have an original Chinese last name, don’t get too creative. Only about 100 Chinese family names are floating around for you to consider, and 20–30 of them are the most common ones. Should you go with a rare last name? Our question is, how would you feel about Dankworth, Macqoid, or Loughty being a choice for someone who wants to pick an English last name for themselves? I would recommend you choose a more common last name.

If you want to get creative, you can play around with the first name! However, it’s not bad to choose a rare last name. Many of the less frequently seen Chinese last names not only sound poetic but also trace back to deep historic roots. If your last name sounds similar to one of the less frequent ones, then go for it!

So, the answer goes both ways. Another classic rule for choosing your Chinese last name is to find one that sounds similar to your official last name.

Below are just a few examples. If you want to see a complete list of last name ideas, Click here to download a translated English last name into Chinese.

• Lee = Li 李

• Wynn = Wang 王

• Lynn = Lin 林

• Smith = Shi 史/石

• Wilson/Williams = Wu 吴

• Miller = Mi 米

• Hall = Hao 郝

• Young = Yang 杨

• Morris = Mo 莫

You might wonder: Why do I need to have a Chinese last time? Can’t I just stick with a first name? Yes, you can. Again, there’s no strict rule about anything. It’s just that the last name is often seen as an essential and conventional part of a Chinese name. Without the last name, a Chinese name might not seem complete. If one only has a first name, it might just sound like a word rather than a name.

2. Choose the Length of Your Name

Most Chinese names either belong to two-character or three-character categories.

• Formula 1: Last Name (One character) + First Name (One character)

• Formula 2: Last Name (One character) + First Name (Two characters)

Very occasionally, you might see a four-character name. The reasons can be: first, the person has a compound surname (复姓), such as Ouyang (欧阳), or Sima (司马). These compound surnames are very rare. I personally have never met anyone who has a compound surname.

One interesting fact is that many compound surnames are used in novels about ancient Chinese stories. If you’re into ancient Chinese fiction, then you should definitely choose one from your favorite novel! Another reason is that the person might not be of Han ethnicity. The person might be Mongolian, Muslim, Tibetan, Korean, or even Russian. In fact, China has over 56 diverse ethnic groups!

Let’s say you’re not into old Chinese hero stories, nor do you want to have an exotic surname. Therefore, the length of your full name should either be two syllables or three syllables. All Chinese characters have only one syllable.

Two or three? That’s the question. For hundreds of years, there's been no clear answer. People use both formulas 1 and 2. However, in recent years, there's been an increasing number of parents who choose to give their child a three-character name. First, it’s less likely for you to have the same name as someone else. Second, there is more room for creativity. Imagine creating another digit for your password. The extra digit will make your password more unique, won’t it?

It seems like formula 2 is a total winner, right? Not quite. Since there are only a certain amount of characters that contain an auspicious meaning, no matter how you combine them, they’re going to be very similar and even have the same names. And what makes this a more complicated process is that parents all tend to think the same way. No matter how creative they get, there are just too many of them doing the same thing.

It turns out that many children's names today are not very distinguishable from each other. This creates another trend. Some parents are giving their child a four-character name, which creates formula 3: Last Name (one character) + First Name (three characters). Maybe in 2050, there will be a formula 7!

Should I go with formula 1 then? Let’s start with the downside first. If you choose to only have one character in your first name, you might meet someone who shares your name too. But, should you be worried about it?

I would say no, because chances are you might only run into someone who has the same name as you a few times in your lifetime. Big deal. I have a two-character name, and I’ve never encountered anyone who has the same name. Well, sure, there are people on Facebook or LinkedIn that have my name. Who doesn’t?

3. Get Creative and Abstract

Once your last name is set, you can start with the fun part of naming yourself or your child. In the English world, there are only a certain number of available first names to choose from, such as Frank, Julia, Tom, and Mary. However, in the Chinese world, there is an unlimited possibility of choosing how you want your last name to be. There are simply no rules! All existing Chinese characters are at your service. It’s almost like playing a Lego game! 

There’s just one thing, though. Not all the Lego pieces, or Chinese characters, are a good fit for names. Sure, you can name yourself "table" or "curtain." But I won’t suggest it. When it comes to naming, most Chinese parents will choose a character that contains a propitious meaning, serves as a wish for how the child’s personality will be, or has a gender reference.

Some examples are:

• Good intention

  • Strong 强

  • Resilience 刚

• Gender reference

  • Jade 玉 (usually female)

  • Fragrance 芳 (usually female)

  • Moon 月 (usually female)

  • Tranquility 静 (usually female)

  • Sunny 晴 (usually female)

  • Stone 石 (usually male)

  • War or powerful 武 (usually male)

  • Courage 勇 (usually male)

Tips: It's also common to use a character that symbolizes good scenery.

• Nature

  • Ocean 海

  • Sky 天

  • Dragon 龙 (Jackie Chan’s Chinese name has a dragon character in it. So is Bruce Lee.)

  • Star 星

  • Cloud 云

• Good concept

  • Scholar 文

  • Peaceful 平

  • Outstanding 杰

Now that you’ve realized your first name could be anything, just remember that the general rule of thumb is to choose a word that has a good meaning. Also, feel free to get creative; no one will judge.

4. Put the Last Name and First Name Together

Still, remember the two formulas? We are now going to use the formulas to create names. Before we get started, you need to know this: the Chinese family name always comes first. So, the order is family name plus first name. This rule is also applicable to Korean and Japanese names.

However, things can get messy in English-speaking countries. Why? In the English-speaking world, the first name comes before the family name. As a Chinese person living in the U.S., my name becomes Tian Zhou, not Zhou Tian in its original Chinese order. Do I have a say in this? No. If I don’t follow the English-speaking rules, people will get confused. Do I get upset about it? No. It’s just a name, and I’m now getting quite comfortable being Tian Zhou in America, and Zhou Tian in China. As long as people recognize who I am, I’ll be happy.

But the story doesn’t just end here. There are exceptions! If a Chinese person is famous enough, then that person gets to keep the Chinese order of their name even in the Western world. For instance, Deng Xiaoping is not Xiaoping Deng, Yao Ming is not Ming Yao, and Mao Zedong is not Zedong Mao. Why? They’re famous. Therefore, their names should be respected and honored. This rule only applies to the most prominent Chinese. If the person is just moderately famous, he still has to follow the standard English rule. 

If you’re interested in finding more protocols for Chinese names, check out this web page.

5. Always Use a Chinese Dictionary

Of course. I can’t think of a reason to not use a dictionary. There’s only one suggestion. Use Pleco. Pleco is the best Chinese dictionary out there. I’m not promoting them, even though they should pay me for it. Download Pleco here.

6. Come up with a Few Name Ideas and Test them All Out

Share your name ideas with your Chinese friends and see what they think. Make sure you talk to more than one Chinese person because Chinese people tend to be very polite and encouraging. We don’t usually make critical comments.

Also, say your name at least a dozen times to yourself to see if you truly like it or not. Don’t rush to announce your new name. Give it a week or two weeks. A good name can surely survive that long. 

6.5 Additional Steps

Do you understand everything I said? Or do you think it's too hard? Here's some good news: We give free name ideas to our students. Visit our website to see our private and group classes (in-person or online), and join us as a student!

Comment below if you’d like to share your experience of choosing a Chinese name.

Author: Tian Zhou