Chinese names 1 Agenda The composition of Chinese

Chinese names 1

Agenda ★ The composition of Chinese names ★ The origins of family names ★ The choice of given names ★ What is your Chinese name? 2

láo xiǎo jìng ��静 Xiaojing Lao 3

新百家姓 The population of “李” accounts for 7. 94% of the population of the whole country. The population of “王” accounts for 7. 41% of the population of the whole country. The population of “� ” accounts for 7. 07% of the population of the whole country. 4

Mainland China: Li Mandarin Pinyin Hong Kong: Li Lee Lay Mandarin Pinyin Cantonese translation Macau: Li Lee Lei Mandarin Pinyin Cantonese translation Portuguese translation 6

The origins of Chinese family names ● ● ● Awarded land 周、� Name of the country �、�、� Official title of the occupation 司�、太史 Place of residence 西�、�郭 Occupation 陶、巫 8

The choice of Chinese given names ● In the past, when elders named a newborn baby, they took several factors into full consideration: the astrological principles, the birth date, the array of five elements(金、木、 水、火、土) told by fortune-teller, the form, pronunciation and the meaning of the name. 9

● After the founding of new China, names began to take on a political touch such as �国，超英 and so on. ● The reform and opening policies also provided more choices of characters, such as ��，安娜 and so on. 10

Some popular given names Men 伟(wěi great) 强(qiáng strong) 磊(lěi upright) � (jūn army) 洋(yáng ocean) 勇(yǒng brave) 杰(jié distinctive) 涛(tāo waves) 明(míng bright) � (kǎi triumph) Women 超(chāo surpass) 平(píng peace) 浩(hào vast) 森(sēn forest) 俊(jùn handsome) � (cōng smart) 凡(fán ordinary) 宇(yǔ universe) 天(tiān sky) 振(zhèn strive) 芳(fāng fragrant) 秀(xiù elegant) 英(yīng outstanding) 娜(nà elegant) 敏(mǐn quick) 静(jìng quiet) � (lì beautiful) � (yàn beautiful) 娟(juān graceful) � (lán orchid) 霞(xiá sunglow) 菲(fēi fragrant) � (bèi treasure) 珍(zhēn precious) � (yì art) 佳(jiā good) 曼(màn long) 琪(qí fine jade) � (shī poem) 11 妍(yán beautiful)

What is your Chinese name? 1. Transliteration of English names in Chinese ● Use Chinese characters to try to closely approximate the English sounds ● One character per consonant sound ● A “・” in between names Barack Obama 巴拉克・奥巴� Taylor Swift 泰勒・斯威夫特 12

2. Choose Chinese characters to name yourself ● Use Chinese characters to convey an idea or describe your characteristics ● Choose a name that is like a real Chinese person's name to show that you respect their culture Family name: Of the available choices, try to choose one that sounds like your last name and has a meaning you like. It is probably best to choose a single character for your family name. First name: Your first name should be represented by one or two characters. Choose a good name! 13

Choose your family name and given name. Example: 李 小 � ↙ ↘ Family name given name 李 means the man of pear. 小� means small dragon. My Chinese name is _____________. The meaning of my Chinese name: ____(family name) means _____________(given name) means ______________. 14