Chinese word for english name

Contents

• 1 How to write your name in Chinese?
  • 1.1 Men’s Names in Chinese
    • 1.1.1 Women’s Names in Chinese
      • 1.1.1.1 Some thoughts about English names in Chinese
    • 1.1.2 All students can practice writing with a live 1-on-1 tutor with TutorMandarin.
    • 1.1.3 Sign up now for a free class!

帕特里克 Pà tè lǐ kè… 夏洛特 Xià luò tè… 史蒂文 Shǐ dì wén…

Do these names sound familiar to you? They’re some of the most common English names pronounced in Mandarin Chinese. If you are visiting or living in China, one of the big questions you can’t get away with from Chinese people is “what’s your name?”. So you’ll definitely want to know how to say your name in Chinese.

If you don’t know yet, all foreign names can be easily translated into Chinese, one way or another. Sure, you can belt out your name in English. Problem is, people in China – except for young people in big cities like Shanghai or Beijing – generally don’t speak English. If you answer with “Patrick”, or “Charlotte”, chances are, they can’t recognize, remember, or even pronounce your name. That’s why it’s important to learn how to say your name in Chinese.

Luckily for you, we got this entire post dedicated to name in Chinese!

We’ll cover the most common names in the world – both their official Chinese translations and common variations, teach you how to write your name in Chinese characters, and pronounce it in standard Mandarin. Besides, we’ll look at the logic behind the Chinese translations of foreign names and show you how your name is translated from English or your native language in the first place. And at the end of the post, we’ll help you learn a few expressions you can use when introducing yourself to your Chinese-speaking friends.

Sound good? Let’s dive in!

Table of Contents

First and foremost, let’s learn how to say “name” in Chinese.

“Name” in Chinese

The word for “name” in Chinese is:

• 名字 (míngzi)

It’s a very quick and simple word for you to add to your staple Chinese vocabulary! If you break the word into characters, 名 (míng) stands for “given name”, and 字 (zì) means “courtesy name”, which is the name given to a person when they reach adulthood in traditional Chinese culture.

Technically, 名字 (míngzi) only means given name, but informally, you can use 名字 (míngzi) to refer to your full name (family name + given name).

Another word for “name” in Chinese is:

• 姓名 (xìngmíng)

The difference between the two words is that 姓名 (xìngmíng), formed by the characters 姓 (xìng) – “family name” and 名 (míng) – “given name”, is the official word for full name, and is thus used in formal contexts like written documents. Meanwhile, 名字 (míngzi) is more frequently used in conversation, or when saying phrases such as “my name”, which in Chinese translates to 我的名字 (wǒ de míngzi).

How to Translate Your Name into Chinese

The Chinese language does not have an alphabet, rather, the writing system is made up of thousands of different characters. So in Chinese, all foreign names – whether they come from English, Greek, or Russian – need to be written in characters, which are words essentially, instead of letters.

“Then how do I translate my name into Chinese?”, you asked.

Well, with a few exceptions, the majority of the foreign names are translated, more accurately, transliterated into Chinese phonetically by stringing together Chinese characters that sound similar to the syllables or phonemes of the original name. For instance, Jason becomes 杰森 (Jié sēn), two Chinese characters that sound like Jason in English.

Translating Western Names into Chinese

For certain Western names, transliteration is rather convenient because all you have to do is break your name into its component syllables and imagine how you would pronounce them in a thick Chinese accent, and you’ve got it.

Case in point:

• Amanda → A-man-da → 阿曼达 (pronunciation: Ā màn dá)
• Kamila → Ka-mi-la→ 卡米拉 (pronunciation: Kǎ mǐ lā)
• Mina → Mi-na → 米娜 (pronunciation: Mǐ nà)

As you can see, even though these names may look completely unrecognizable when written in Chinese characters, their Pinyin versions (the Romanization of the Chinese characters) look pretty much the same as the originals, aside from the tone marks.

But here’s the main issue:

Because Chinese characters can only represent syllables as concrete blocks of sound but not as fluid combinations of letters, most western names, when transliterated into Chinese, don’t sound like the originals.

For instance,

• Bradley → B-ra-d-ley → 布莱德利 (pronunciation: Bù lái dé lì)
• Patricia → Pa-t-ri-ci-a → 帕特里西娅 (pronunciation: Pà tè lǐ xī yà)

Since each Chinese character is just one syllable, you need a different character to represent the different parts of a consonant or vowel cluster which would be pronounced together as one sound in English (e.g. “tr”, “ia”).

So, in the above examples, while “Bradley” is two syllables in English, it becomes a four-character/syllable name when transliterated into Chinese. And “Patricia”, a three-syllable English name is now five syllables in Chinese.

Besides, Mandarin Chinese has a much smaller stock of sounds compared with English (there are only around 400 syllables in Chinese while there are over 10,000 in English), so very often, the sounds in the foreign name don’t exist at all in Chinese. In that case, you just have to produce the closest equivalent you can!

Just look at what happened to these names.  

• Kimberly → Kim-ber-ly → 金伯莉 (pronunciation: Jīn bó lì)
  (There is neither “kim” nor “ber” sound in Chinese, so “jīn” and “bó” are used for approximation)

• Donald → Don-nal-d → 唐纳德 (pronunciation: Táng nà dé)
  (There is neither “don” nor “nal” sound in Chinese, so “Táng” and “nà” are used for approximation)

Though these Chinese transliterations barely sound anything like the original names, it’s about the best you can do!

Bottom line: most of the time, Chinese transliterations are a very, very rough approximation of the sound of the foreign names.

Now, here’s the interesting part:

The Chinese transliterations of foreign names don’t always have to be based on their pronunciation in English. Many names are translated into Chinese in a way that uses the sounds of their original word.

For example, John is called 约翰 (Yuē hàn) in Chinese, which is nothing like the pronunciation of “John” in English. This is because the name “John” itself is derived from the Hebrew name “Yohanan”. So the Chinese translation of John is based on the name’s pronunciation in Hebrew rather than English – hence the translated name 约翰 (Yuē hàn).

In a similar fashion, “Joseph” is translated as 约瑟夫 (Yuē sè fū) in Chinese. It follows the pronunciation of its original Hebrew name “Yosef” instead of the English name “Joseph”.   

Translating Asian Names into Chinese

While most foreign names are translated into Chinese by sound, it’s not the case for every name.

For Asian countries that have historically used Chinese characters, original names in characters are retained in Chinese. 

For example, the famous Japanese artist Yoko Ono is 小野洋子 in Chinese, which is the same as her name written in Japanese Kanji. Since characters are read differently in Japanese and Chinese, 小野洋子 is pronounced “Ono Yōko” in the original Japanese but (Xiǎoyě Yángzǐ) in Chinese.

The same goes for Korean names and Vietnamese names – since both countries had once used a writing system based on Chinese characters, you don’t need to translate the names into Chinese phonetically as you would do with western names.

What Does Your Name Mean in Chinese?

Writing foreign names in Chinese characters has a long history and practical reasons. But do the names in Chinese actually mean anything?

Well, most of the time, the method of translating foreign names into Chinese is purely phonetic. Even though the Chinese characters that make up the names have meanings on their own, the conjunction of characters in a transliterated name doesn’t mean anything – it’s just a string of sounds.

For example, Christopher is written as 克里斯多夫 (Kè lǐ sī duō fū) in Chinese. If you take the characters literally, “克-里-斯-多-夫” means “gram-inside-thus-many-man” or “conquer-mile-this-more-husband” (a Chinese character may have many and varied meanings). But just by looking at it, Chinese people will immediately know it’s a foreign name and discard any meanings these characters may have originally had. Obviously, it’s just the phonetic representation of “Ch-ri-s-to-pher”.

That said, since there are so many characters to choose from when transcribing a foreign name, a translator can manipulate the transcription to add additional connotations to the name.

Just as Chinese parents like to choose names that feature characters with auspicious meanings for their babies, characters with negative connotations would be avoided in favor of “elegant” characters with positive or at least neutral meanings for transliteration. It’s nice when a name’s translation makes sense both phonetically and semantically.

For instance, the character 德 (dé), meaning “virtue”, is often used in transliteration to approximate the “d” sound in English names like Dwight – 德怀特 (Dé huái tè) and Gerald – 杰拉德 (Jié lā dé).

Similarly, the sounds of “t” and “Ge” are represented by 特 (tè) – “exceptional” and 杰 (Jié) – “outstanding”, respectively, in the above names – another two characters with positive meanings.

Additionally, some characters are considered typically masculine or feminine. For guys, this means characters that denote strength or firmness are usually used when transliterating their names into Chinese, and for girls, characters with suggestions of beauty or elegance.

For instance, the feminine name Hannah is 汉娜 (Hàn nà) in Chinese, with the character 娜 (nà) meaning “graceful”, while the masculine name Johnny is 强尼 (Qiáng ní) in Chinese, with 强 (qiáng) meaning “strong”.

For the same reason, a different set of characters may be chosen for transcribing the same syllable or phoneme in foreign names to give the names a distinctly masculine or feminine feel.

Example:

For Johnny – 强尼 (Qiáng ní), a neutral character 尼 (ní) is used to transcribe the “ny” sound in the name, whereas for Jenny – 珍妮 (Zhēn nī), 妮 (nī) – a feminine character is used instead to transcribe the same “ny” sound, implying the name bearer is likely a woman (the radical 女 on the left side of 妮 symbolizes woman).

To further illustrate the point, look at how the gender-neutral name “Ashley” is translated into different Chinese versions based on sex.

• Ashley (male) → A-sh-ley → 阿什利 (Ā shí lì)
• Ashley (female) → A-sh-ley → 阿什莉 (Ā shí lì)

The sound “ley” in the male “Ashley” is translated as 利 (lì), a neutral character meaning “benefit”, while in the female version, it’s translated as “莉”, a popular character used in Chinese girl names meaning “Jasmine”.

Name in Chinese: More Than One Version?

You’ve probably noticed by now that Mandarin Chinese has lots of homophonous characters (having the same pronunciation but different meanings, like the English “deer” and “dear”) due to its limited stock of syllables. So it’s easy to use various combinations of characters to transcribe the same foreign name. In other words, a foreigner may have multiple names in Chinese.

For instance, Chris can be written as 克里丝 as well as 克里斯 – both of them are pronounced (Kè lǐ sī).

And the number of possible transliterations can increase dramatically when a name doesn’t match exactly any Chinese sound and several similar-sounding characters can be considered. 

For instance, Rachel can be 蕾切尔 (Lěi qiè ěr), 瑞吉儿 (Ruì jí ér) and 瑞秋 (Ruì qiū) at the same time since there is no particular character combination that sounds the same as the English “Rachel”.

Interestingly, western celebrities that have the same name are often given different transliterated names in Chinese on purpose as a way of helping Chinese people distinguish one person from another.

Take Trump, for example, the Former US President Donald Trump’s name is translated as 特朗普 (Tè lǎng pǔ) while the English snooker player Judd Trump is referred to as 特鲁姆普 (Tè lǔ mǔ pǔ) on Chinese media.  

How to Write Your Name in Chinese

If you’re learning Chinese, one of the first things you should learn is how to introduce yourself! And you can’t do that unless you know your name in Chinese. So in this section, we’ll teach you the rope of writing your name in Chinese.

Writing the Name in Chinese Characters

Here is how you should do it:

1. Break Your Name into Constituent Sounds  

Foreign names are written with Chinese characters that match phonetically with their original sounds. As each character is only one syllable, the first step to writing your name in Chinese is to break your name into its constituent sounds.

Here, you may fall into your first dilemma. Chinese characters must comprise a vowel sound. However, many English names only contain a consonant sound. In this case, you need to add a Chinese vowel to that consonant or between the consonant cluster to make the sound transcribable.

For example,

When saying the name “Francis” in English, the consonant cluster “Fr” is pronounced together without a break. So you need to add a Chinese vowel to the consonant “f”, which in this case is “u” – the closest match to the ending sound of “f”.

The rule also applies to the “s” in “Francis”. You need to add the Chinese vowel “i” (pronounced “ri”) to it to mimic the ending sound of “s”.

So if you want to transcribe the name “Francis”, first you have to break it into “F(u)-ran-ci-s(i)”, making it four syllables, rather than two, in Chinese.

2. Replace the Sounds with Similar-sounding Characters

The next step is to find Chinese characters that correspond to the constituent sounds of your name.

In the case of “Francis”, look for four Chinese characters that sound similar to the four syllables – “F(u)-ran-ci-s(i)”.

Now, to write your name in Chinese, you need to know the basics of characters. The easiest way is to find a character that sounds the same as the syllable. For example, 弗 (Fú) for F(u), and 斯 (sī) for “s(i)”.

Some syllables can’t be directly transferred to Chinese, and you would need to find a similar-sounding character to approximate the sound. For instance, “ran” and “ci” are not sounds that naturally occur in Chinese, so you need to find the closest equivalents you can. In this case, “ran” and “ci” can be approximated by 朗 (lǎng) and 西 (xī), respectively.  

Now, you just need to put the characters together and write 弗朗西斯 (Fú lǎng xī sī) for “Francis”.

3. Use Feminine Characters to Transcribe Girl Names

Just like you can turn the name “Francis” into its female version “Frances” by changing the spelling, you can make a name in Chinese appear more feminine by using feminine characters in the transliteration process.

So, instead of using the neutral character 斯 (sī), meaning “thus”, to approximate the “si” syllable, you can opt for 丝 (sī), which means “silk”. Thus, the girl’s name “Frances” can be written as 弗朗西丝 (Fú lǎng xī sī) in Chinese.

Some other frequently used Chinese characters for transcribing girl names include: 娅 (yà), 玛(mǎ), 丽(lì), 莉(lì), 娜 (nà), 琳 (lín), 莎 (shā), 黛 (dài), 妮 (nī), 薇 (wēi), 莲 (lián), 梅 (méi), 蕾 (lěi) and etc.

4. Turn R-sounds into L-sounds to Fit the Chinese Pronunciation

Because determining which Chinese characters sound most like your name can be something highly subjective, in reality, there are no set ways of writing your name in Chinese. However, there are some popular ways of doing it. (China’s state-run Xinhua News Agency has set some rules which designate that foreign names be written in a certain way to avoid confusion)

For example, if your original name contains an “r+vowel” sound, it’s customary to change it to an “l+vowel” sound for Chinese transliteration. So, Randy becomes Landy – 兰迪 (Lán dí) and Frank becomes Flank – 弗兰克 (Fú lán kè).

5. Turn V-sounds into W-sounds

Since Mandarin does not use “v”, you have to replace the “v+vowel” sound in your name with “w+vowel”.  

Examples:

• Victor – 维克多 (Wéi kè duō)
• Valentina – 瓦伦蒂娜 (Wǎ lún dì nà)
• Olivier – 奥利维尔 (Ào lì wéi ěr)

6. Turn “TH” sounds (/ð,θ/) into X-sounds or S-sounds

The consonant cluster “th”, which involves the biting of the tongue, doesn’t exist in Chinese either, so you need to substitute sounds like “x” or “s” that are easier for Chinese people to say.

Examples:

• Matthew – 马修 (Mǎ xiū)
• Cynthia – 辛西娅 (Xīn xī yà)
• Jonathan – 乔纳森 (Qiáo nà sēn)

7. Break up Consonant Clusters

Consonant clusters (e.g. “br”, “cl”, “pr”, etc) don’t exist in Chinese. So you need to split them up into two parts, separating them with two characters. While the last consonant can be transcribed with different characters depending on the subsequent vowel, there is usually a fixed character for the first consonant. Here are some examples:

• Blair – 布莱尔 (Bù lái ěr)
  Brian – 布莱恩 (Bù lái ēn)
  The “b” in a consonant cluster is usually translated as 布 (bù).

• Claude – 克劳德 (Kè láo dé)
  Craig – 克雷格 (Kè léi gé)
  Chloe – 克洛伊 (Kè luò yī)
  The “c” and “ch” in a consonant cluster are usually translated as 克 (Kè).

• Bradley – 布莱德利 (Bù lái dé lì)
  Drew – 德鲁 (Dé lǔ)
  The “d” in a consonant cluster is usually translated as 德 (dé).

• Florentino – 弗洛伦蒂诺 (Fú luò lún dì nuò)
  Franco – 弗兰科 (Fú lán kē)
  The “f” in a consonant cluster is usually translated as 弗 (fú).

• Glen – 格伦 (Gé lún)
  Grace – 格蕾丝 (Gé lěi sī)
  The “g” in a consonant cluster is usually translated as 格 (gé).

• Platt – 普拉特 (Pǔ lā tè)
  Presley – 普莱斯利 (Pǔ lái sī lì)
  The “p” in a consonant cluster is usually translated as 普 (pǔ).

• Tlaloc – 特拉洛克 (Tè lā luò kè)
  Tracy – 特蕾西 (Tè lěi xī)
  The “t” in a consonant cluster is usually translated as 特 (tè).

8. Transcribe the “l” and “lle” at the end of a name as 尔

To write names that end with an “l” or “lle”, you could use 尔 (ěr).

Examples:

• Michael – 迈克尔 (Mài kè ěr)
• Gabriel – 加布里埃尔 (Jiā bù lǐ āi ěr)
• Michelle – 米歇尔 (Mǐ xiē ěr)

9. Transcribe the “ia” at the end of a name as either 亚 or 娅

Other tricky names to write in Chinese would be those that end with “ia”. In this case, you could use either 亚 (yà) or 娅 (yà), though the latter is mainly used in girl names.

• Mattia – 马蒂亚 (Mǎ dì yà)
• Victoria – 维多利亚/维多利娅 (Wéi duō lì yà)
• Olivia – 奥利维亚/奥利维娅 (Ào lì wéi yà)

Writing Your Full Name

Since Chinese lacks spacing between characters, when writing both first and last names together in Chinese, the names should be separated by an interpunct・(a centered dot) to make it clear that you are writing a full name.

For example, Mark Twain (Mar-k T-wain) would be written as 马克·吐温 (Mǎ kè · Tǔ wēn), and Stephen King (S-te-phen King) would be written as 斯蒂芬·金 (Sī dì fēn · Jīn).

As for the order of names in Chinese, stick to the Western practice, that is, write your first name in Chinese first, then your middle name (if you have one), and finally your last name. You don’t need to reverse your names to conform to the Chinese name pattern where the family name is placed before the given name. Essentially, you are just transcribing your name with Chinese characters, not writing a Chinese name per se.

Find Your Name in Chinese

While a name can have multiple possible transcriptions in Chinese, if you have a fairly common name, then chances are there’s already a standard way of writing your name in characters that Chinese people are familiar with, so you don’t have to get all creative with character selection.

Below, we list the official, standard Chinese translations of foreign names used by mainstream media and publications in China, along with their common variant forms.

English Names in Chinese

We’ll start with the most common English names. They are translated into Chinese characters that are phonetically similar to the original name, without necessarily being very meaningful. The transliteration of “David”, for example, is 大卫 (Dà wèi), literally – “big guard”.

Common Male English Names in Chinese

Here’s the list of the top 100 English names for boys written in Chinese characters, along with Pinyin pronunciation. Looking at these will help you figure out how your name should be pronounced in Chinese as well!

Common Female English Names in Chinese

As for the translations of female English names, elegant characters reflecting feminine attributes are often used to transcribe the names. Some top occurring characters in female names include 丽 (lì) – “beautiful”, 莉 (lì) – “Jasmine”, 娜 (nà) – “graceful”, 妮 (nī) – “young girl”, and 琳 (lín) – “beautiful jade”.

Here’s the list of the 100 most common English names for girls written in Chinese.

Spanish Names in Chinese

Although in the majority of cases, the Chinese characters which are used to transcribe a certain name hardly change at all between Spanish to Chinese and English to Chinese, there are other occasions when there is a big difference which makes the name almost unrecognizable if you do not know already how the name is pronounced in original Spanish.

For instance,

The Spanish name “Jorge” is translated as 豪尔赫 (Háo ěr hè) in Chinese based on its Spanish pronunciation, while an Englishman named “Jorge” would be called 乔治 (Qiáo zhì) instead since English speakers would say “George” for “Jorge”.

Now, learn your Chinese name with this list of common Spanish names and their Chinese translations. They’re ordered by gender and popularity and are translated into Chinese based on the Spanish pronunciation.

French Names in Chinese

Below is a list of the most common French names translated into Chinese by pronunciation, ordered by popularity.

As with English names, different characters have been assigned to reflect the pronunciation of the French name, of which some are officially endorsed by Xinhua News Agency and others organically occurred back when French novels were first translated into Chinese (prior to the founding of PRC).

For instance, the first name of the French actor Jean Reno is translated as 让 (Ràng) in Chinese, while the “Jean” in “Jean Valjean”, the protagonist of Victor Hugo’s 1862 novel Les Misérables, is translated as 冉 (Rǎn).

German Names in Chinese

All German names can be rendered into Chinese sounds and assigned their characters too. Below is a collection of the most common German names for males and females written in Chinese characters, complete with Pinyin Romanization and their common variant forms.

Italian Names in Chinese

And finally, for our Italian readers, here’s a list of the most popular Italian names written in Chinese. You can see that the characters selected to transcribe the names are aimed to produce a close approximation in sound to their Italian originals.

Name in Chinese Converter

If your name is not popular enough to crack the top name lists, or, if you don’t know what you’re doing, you can use an online name tool to convert your name into Chinese. Chinese Gratis, for example, can autogenerate a name in Chinese for you instantly after you input your name on their web page.

The good thing about the tool is that it allows you to submit your gender as well as the linguistic origin of your name, thus you can get a gender-appropriate name in Chinese based on the pronunciation of your name in your native language.

But remember, whichever name converter you use (and however reliable it claims to be), you must check your name in Chinese with a native speaker. Even though the Chinese transliteration is aimed to stay as close as possible to the original pronunciation of your name, some character combinations autogenerated by the systems just sound weird for Chinese people. Plus, since Chinese characters have multiple meanings, it’s hard to avoid amusing coincidences, especially when your name is long and uncommon. So, double-check with native speakers to be sure!  

Bonus: Western Celebrities’ Names in Chinese

From political leaders to sports stars, did you know that Chinese media has given an official Chinese name to each and every one of the influential western celebrities? Find out how to say and write the names of the world’s most famous people in Chinese with the help of the chart below.   

Different Names in Chinese: Mainland China vs Hong Kong vs Taiwan

So far, we’ve been looking at how the foreign names are said and written in standard Mandarin used in Mainland China. Although the languages spoken in Hong Kong (Cantonese) and Taiwan (Taiwanese Mandarin) are of the same origin, there are substantial differences in many name translations between the mainland, Hong Kong and Taiwan due to the different historical and cultural backgrounds and the influence of dialects.

For example, different names are given to these people on Chinese-language media platforms in the three regions:

• Ronaldo
  Mainland China: 罗纳尔多 (Luó nà ěr duō)
  Hong Kong: 郎拿度 (Láng ná dù)
  Taiwan: 郎拿度 (Láng ná dù)

• Reagon
  Mainland China: 里根 (Lǐ gēn)
  Hong Kong: 列根 (Liè gēn)
  Taiwan: 雷根 (Léi gēn)

• Mrs Thatcher
  Mainland China: 撒切尔夫人 (Sā qiè ěr fūrén)
  Hong Kong: 戴卓尔夫人 (Dài zhuó ěr fūrén)
  Taiwan: 柴契尔夫人 (Chái qì ěr fūrén)

In Mainland China, transcription of foreign names has been standardized by the Proper Names and Translation Service of the state-run Xinhua News Agency. There is a “palette” of about 500 pre-selected Chinese characters to choose from – ones that are recognizable and inoffensive.

Generally, there are two characteristics in the translation of foreign name in mainland China:

Hong Kong and Taiwan are different.

First of all, Chinese surnames are often included in foreign names, even though they don’t bear too much resemblance to the original sounds. 

For example, Hong Kong gave Cherie Blair, the wife of former British Prime Minister Tony Blair a very Chinese-sounding name “彭雪玲 Peng Xueling” (彭 is a common Chinese surname). Taiwan has adopted the same approach, giving Barack Obama a typical Chinese surname 欧 (Ōu) and name him 欧巴马 (Ōu bā mǎ). (In mainland China, Obama is called 奥巴马 Ào Bā Mǎ, and 奥 is not a Chinese surname).

Secondly, in Hong Kong and Taiwan, some syllables in names are dropped entirely during the translation process for brevity, while in mainland China, you can almost expect every syllable or phoneme to be fully pronounced.

Compare the different Chinese versions of these names:

• Donald Trump
  Mainland China: 唐纳德·特朗普 (Táng nà dé · Tè lǎng pǔ)
  Hong Kong: 唐纳·川普 (Táng nà · Chuān pǔ)
  Taiwan: 唐纳·川普 (Táng nà · Chuān pǔ)

• Johnson
  Mainland China: 约翰逊 (Yuē hàn xùn)
  Hong Kong: 詹森 (Zhān sēn)
  Taiwan: 詹森 (Zhān sēn)

• Eisenhower
  Mainland China: 艾森豪威尔 (Ài sēn háo wēi ěr)
  Hong Kong: 艾森豪 (Ài sēn háo)
  Taiwan: 艾森豪 (Ài sēn háo)

Thirdly, for famous female figures, Hong Kong and Taiwan tend to adopt feminine names. For example, Hong Kong and Taiwan translate the name of former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary (Clinton) as 希拉蕊 (Xī lā ruǐ), with 蕊 (ruǐ) meaning “flower bud”, and Michelle (Obama) as 蜜雪儿 (Mì xuě ér), with 蜜雪 (mì xuě) meaning “honeydew snow”. In mainland China, however, neutral characters would be used when it comes to translating the names of female politicians or scientists to give the names a sense of seriousness.

How to Say Your Name in Chinese

Now you’ve known how to write your name in Chinese script, let’s talk about how you can actually say your name in Chinese.

Before we get into the various ways of introducing yourself in Chinese, here is one crucial thing you always need to keep in mind:

Chinese is a tonal language. If you change the tone of your name in Chinese, it will likely become another word with a different meaning! For instance,  杰克 (Jié kè) is “Jack” in Chinese, but 接客 (jiē kè) means “accommodate guests”, while 解渴 (jiě kě) means “quench thirst” and 皆可 (jiē kě) – “it’s all good”. They are just one tone apart! So pay close attention to the tones when you say your name out loud.

If you want to master your Chinese pronunciation, We suggest you start with the Pinyin system. It’s an incredibly useful tool for foreigners to learn the sound of Chinese using the Roman alphabet. We’ve written a detailed guide to help you get started. Read more about Pinyin.

“My Name is …” in Chinese

No matter how little Chinese you know, it’s easy to introduce yourself to someone who speaks Chinese. Here are six ways you can say “my name is…” in Chinese:

1. 我叫…

Pronunciation: Wǒ jiào …
Literally, “I am called …”

When you want to introduce yourself to Chinese speakers, the most natural way to say your name in Chinese is to start with 我叫 (Wǒ jiào) and then follow it up with your name. In this sentence, 我 (wǒ) is the personal pronoun “I”, and 叫 (jiào) is a versatile verb, meaning “be called” here. So this sentence can be translated to “I am called…”.

With this expression, you can either introduce yourself with your full name or just your first name, though in formal situations such as a business setting, you’ll more likely need to say your full name in Chinese.

For example:

• 我叫詹姆斯·布雷迪
  Wǒ jiào Zhān mǔ sī · Bù léi dí.
  My name is James Brady.
  Literally, “I am called James Brady.” 

Since the full name is a direct translation from English and not a Chinese name per se, you don’t need to reverse the order to comply with the “family name + given name” Chinese name structure. You still say your first name before your last name.

2. 我是…

Pronunciation: Wǒ shì …
Literally, “I am …”

Another easy and popular way of saying your name in Chinese is to start with 我是 (Wǒ shì) followed by your name. 是 (shì) is the verb “to be”, so it’s just like saying “I am…” in English.

3. 我的名字叫…

Pronunciation: Wǒ de míngzi jiào …
Literally, “My name is called …”

4. 我的名字是…

Pronunciation: Wǒ de míngzi shì …
Literally, “My name is …”

It’s usually fine to say your name in Chinese with either format, beginning the self-introduction with 我叫 (Wǒ jiào) or 我是 (Wǒ shì), but in some situations, you might want to add a formal element to the name introduction and make the statement longer. To do so, simply replace 我 (wǒ) with the phrase 我的名字 (wǒ de míngzi) – “my name”. Again, you can say your full name or just your first name afterward, depending on how serious you want to make yourself sound.

5. 我的中文名字叫…

Pronunciation: Wǒ de Zhōngwén míngzi jiào …
Literally, “My Chinese name is called …”

6. 我的中文名字是…

Pronunciation: Wǒ de Zhōngwén míngzi shì …
Literally, “My Chinese name is …”

If you want to be specific that you’re giving your name in Chinese, you can add the word 中文 (Zhōngwén), which means “Chinese”, before 名字 (míngzi) – “name” in the previous sentences. This is also good for establishing preference, letting people know that you prefer to be addressed by your name in Chinese.

“What Is Your Name” in Chinese

Now that you know how to say your name and introduce yourself, let’s learn how to properly ask someone their name in Chinese as well. This will come in handy when your meet new Chinese friends or colleagues.

As with any expression in Chinese, there is more than one way to ask “what’s your name” in Chinese. Here are the four most common questions we use.

1. 你叫什么名字？

Pronunciation: Nǐ jiào shénme míngzi?
Literally, “You are called what name?”

The standard form of “what’s your name” in Chinese is 你叫什么名字？(Nǐ jiào shénme míngzi). In this question, 什么  (shénme) is the question word, meaning “what”. So this sentence can be translated to “You are called what name?”.

This question can be used in most situations. However, when you meet senior people, it’s better to change it to 您叫什么名字？(Nín jiào shénme míngzi?) to help you sound more polite. 您 (nín) is the honorific form of 你 (nǐ), which is used to address someone who is older than you or in a more senior position than you.

2. 你叫什么？

Pronunciation: Nǐ jiào shénme?
Literally, “You are called what?”

You can omit 名字 (míngzi) after the question word 什么 (shénme) to make the question sound less formal. You can use the shortened form of “what’s your name” in casual situations.

3. 你的名字叫什么？

Pronunciation: Nǐ de míngzi jiào shénme?
Literally, “Your name is called what?”

4. 你的名字是什么？

Pronunciation: Nǐ de míngzi shì shénme?
Literally, “Your name is what?”

Two other expressions for asking someone’s name in Chinese is 你的名字叫什么？(Nǐ de míngzì jiào shénme) and 你的名字是什么？(Nǐ de míngzì shì shénme). They convey a more serious tone and you’ll most likely hear them in very formal situations, such as when you are making a transaction at a bank, and the bank staff needs to identify who you are. Generally, these formal forms are not commonly used in daily speech.

There you go! Once you have these patterns down, you’re golden. So, tell me, what’s your name in Chinese?

FAQ about Names in Chinese

By the way, if you’re interested in learning Chinese, we strongly recommend that you take a structured Chinese course online.

We’ve taken the time to try out dozens of Chinese courses online, some are fabulous while others are abysmal. Read our unbiased reviews here and discover our top recommendations!