Some help with Chinese names, please?

冉 rǎn is third tone and seems to be a surname with meanings like tender; weak; proceed gradually. The Chinese people I know have a one syllable last name, e.g. 张，王，李 and mostly a two syllable given names, sometimes one syllable only, e.g. 李小龙 Lǐ Xiǎolóng. When translating or rather transliterating Western names to Chinese, you get three or even four syllable Chinese versions, but this is mostly due to the numbers of syllables in English, German etc. Based on Google searches 冉 seems to be quite a normal Chinese last name. German interlude: Hilft das ein wenig?

Dear julesong, that's exactly the thing... please check with the CPOD teachers; my suggestions were only backed by my own personal dictionaries, and what little I knew. As for sound-based "cognates, you'd do well to give the written character the "final word". A character which sounds similar, but which is written in a radically different way, may have nothing to offer you by way of understand the specific character which you are looking up... You sound like you know what you are doing!

Julesong (love that name!), I wouldn't suggest using the computer-generated Chinese Name tool on mandarintools.com. It pretty much attempts to create a transliteration of your name, and 9 times out of 10 will sound really bad to native Chinese. Also, a recommendation from a previous post that makes a lot of sense...try to find a name where the characters haven't been simplified.

To completely contradict everything I said above...it'd be cool if you could transliterate Julesong: 寶曲 bǎoqǔ (jewel song) 寶 has been simplified (宝) and this name probably sounds bad to a native Chinese...but anyway, I couldn't resist!

Thanks, calkins! :) My online name, Julesong, came about early in the days of the internet. "Jules" was inevitably taken wherever I went, so I needed something unique. As I'm a musician, putting "song" on the end of "Jules" seemed logical, and - tada! - Julesong was born. :) (And once, back when I was single and dating, there was a fellow who didn't bother to look at the photos of me I provided online before we met. He was openly disappointed to meet a short, chubby white woman instead of his expected Asian woman he thought the name "Julesong" implied. Hmmph!) Is there, perhaps, a way that a Mandarin name that sounds good to a native Chinese speaker could be named which is both musical in meaning and sounds to the listener somewhat like Julesong in English?

Joachim - while I can pronounce the German in your question by reading it, thanks to the year of Opera Language I took in college (which required learning how to pronounce the languages, but not necessarily learning what you were actually saying), I have no idea what the question is. :) Hmm. Well, 冉 Rǎn is number around 130 something on the Hundred Surnames Poem, I believe. I haven't had time to find out, yet, the popularity of it in China. While a surname of "tender" is okay with me, I'm not sure I'd like the added meanings of "weak; proceed gradually." Other suggested surnames beginning with "ra" "ran" or "ram" would be appreciated! Ones with positive meanings are a bonus. :) On another related topic - do Chinese people call each other by nicknames that either are or are not related to their given names? Are there any acceptable given names that have to do with "shiny," "glittering," "bright," etc?

urbandweller - thank you so much for 我的中文名字叫... wǒ de Zhōng wén míng zi jiào... = my chinese name is...then put your name at the end Very helpful! :)

I just found Goulinick's "Most common 200 Chinese surnames listed in order of frequency" webpage. Neat! http://goulnik.com/chinese/ChineseSurnames1-200E.htm The only "ra" surname I see on there is 冉 Ran3, at number 197. Another possibility might be number 35, 宋 Song4, as calkins mentioned. What is the meaning of 宋? Do surnames usually have meanings associated with them?

"Is there, perhaps, a way that a Mandarin name that sounds good to a native Chinese speaker could be named which is both musical in meaning and sounds to the listener somewhat like Julesong in English?" I think it's unlikely you'll be able to satisfy all of that, but a native Chinese could probably answer that better...Cassie, where are you? :P "Are there any acceptable given names that have to do with "shiny," "glittering," "bright," etc?" Here are a couple characters that I think would be acceptable in a given name (just need to find another character to go with it...maybe a musical one): 曦 xī (light of day) 熙 xī (bright / splendid / prosperous) "What is the meaning of 宋?" I'm not sure what 宋 means, other than it's a surname, but here are a couple alternatives: 淞 sōng (name of river) 送 sòng (to give as a present)

P.S. Great story about the date you had! What guy wouldn't look at photos of a blind date before meeting her?!!! And not sure why he'd assume Julesong was Chinese. Good thing (for you) it didn't work out:)

Hey Julesong...once you decide on a name then you can say: 我的中文名字叫... wǒ de Zhōng wén míng zi jiào... = my chinese name is...then put your name at the end! i just learned that the other day and thought i would share! just another simple and fun thing to say. -亚当

Here's a search for "melody": http://www.mdbg.net/chindict/chindict.php?page=worddictbasic&wdqb=melody&wdrst=0 Wondering if any of those words are used as surnames. (Thank you again, gang, for all the help! And completely unrelated, I'm suffering at home today from a bout with tasty but apparently not so good sushi last night. Either that, or it's mollusk allergy, which is a distinct possibility. So I might be quieter on the front as the day goes on...)

i once heard a musician's family had seven children each of them is named after the musical scale 'do re mi....'then it is 哆哆，来来，咪咪，发发，嗦嗦，啦啦，嘻嘻.hope this can gave you some inspiration

I'm thinking that I might investigate 宋 Song4 further. It's in reference to the Song Dynasty, so I'll want to know more about that, of course. I am really curious about calkin's suggestion of: 寶曲 bǎoqǔ (jewel song) - or simplified 宝曲. Is it a name that native Chinese would find acceptible/attractive?

Dear jules, if you are looking for an "R"-surname, I think you might like 阮 (ruan3). It is instantly recognizable to Chinese people as a surname (always makes it to the list of 200 most common ones), and familiar-sounding. That's always something to consider, because there will be less confusion over which character in your name is the surname. Eg. Is it Gong Li or Li Gong? Btw, a 阮 (ruan3) is an ancient Chinese lute, by the way; the kind that is mentioned in classical poems. You will also have something in common with all the Nguyens in the world, because the Vietnamese name is based on this character. If you are actually choosing a Chinese name for yourself, as opposed to transliterating your Western name, you really want to ask Jenny and Connie and Aggie to help you. The risk of putting characters together yourself is that you might end up as a Condoleeza or an Oprah. Lovely names, but the sheer originality of it all can be so distracting. Even for my own given name, there was some serious discussion over the order of the characters: Shall we call the baby girl 仁玉 (ren2yu4) or 玉仁 (yu4ren2)? To this day, some Chinese tell me that my name 玉仁 is elegant and classic, yet others tell me that the characters are in the "wrong" order. And these opinions are always unsolicited! So I won't suggest any characters... One thing you might like to consider is a two-character Chinese name that only reflects your first name. That's perfectly fine in Chinese. I know a Laurent who goes by the name 罗宏 (luo2 hong2); the "luo" is a traditional Chinese surname, so the name feels "complete" to Chinese people. It does mean that his first name is "hong2", but said all together it sounds like... Laurent. P/s, with a two-character name, you never drop the surname. In school, I thought that the name of one of my classmates -- 曾蓼 zeng1 liao2 -- sounded very elegant. 曾 (zeng1) is a classic Chinese surname. To my ear, the whole thing has the same kind of "ring" and balance as "Julesong". Very "you"... going by your voice on CPOD. Instead of the character 蓼, you could consider the exact homonym 嘹 (liao2), which describes a resonating and clear musical tone (not "loud"; more "resonating and true"). Or if Jenny Zhu doesn't mind you adopting her surname, 朱, maybe you could be 朱嘹 (zhu1liao2). Still, do please get advice. Good luck!

Mm, "Murasaki Shikibu" is such an elegant Japanese name, but I don't know what possessed Thomas Harris when he decided to borrow it for his "Lady Murasaki" character in Hannibal Rising. It made her sound like a stripper! Poor Zhang Ziyi! Sometimes you don't want to choose a name with too much weight behind it (Eg. "Winston Churchill Tan" or "Anna Karenina Lim" etc).

auntie68 said: "...if you are looking for an "R"-surname, I think you might like 阮 (ruan3)." Auntie68 - you're right, I do like it. :) I like the way it sounds and the way it looks. "P/s, with a two-character name, you never drop the surname." So, would a full two character name of: 阮 曲 - ruan3 qu3 Sound complete and balanced as a name? 曲 does sound a little more like "Julie." :) And, well, my husband likes it better than 嘹 (liao2). (I know that two third tones together actually sounds like a second and third, too.) I'm hoping that Jenny or Connie (I think Aggie is gone, yes?) might chime in... *hopeful look* Thank you so much for your suggestions!

hello julesong. So glad you like 阮/ ruan3/ Nguyen! But finding a "personal name" character to go with that is way, way, beyond my capabilities. I only suggested Zeng1 Liao2 because I had always liked that name, and it was a hit. Why don't you ask Jenny and the other teachers to come up with a suitable character? Personally, I think that a character which sounds like "jiu1" or "qiu1" would sound nice with 阮. Maybe 奏 (zou4; "perform music")? Or 爵 (jue2; as in 爵士 --> jazz). But you MUST check with Jenny et al.; if you follow me, you might end up having a Chinese name with as much style as "dunkshot" or "mousepad". In English, words like "Apple", "River", "Moonbeam", and "Leaf" are so pretty; but as names they don't always work out, do they? Thanks and again, good luck!

In using the MDBG online Chinese-English dictionary (http://www.xuezhongwen.net/chindict/chindict.php), I'm coming up with some different meanings for the suggestions you've given. Perhaps it's just plain wrong? 奏 zou4 present a memorial 爵 jue2 nobility / (ancient wine holder with 3 legs and loop handle) 爵士 jue2 shi4 knight / Sir / Jazz (that one might just be a bit too masculine) :) You said: "Btw, a 阮 (ruan3) is an ancient Chinese lute, by the way; the kind that is mentioned in classical poems." MDBG has: 中阮 zhong1 ruan3 zhongruan or alto lute, like pipa 琵琶 but bigger and lower range 大阮 da4 ruan3 daruan or bass lute, like pipa 琵琶 and zhongruan 中阮 but bigger and lower range Interesting! I notice that a lot of the characters associated with ruan3 (as it sounds, not as written) are technological in nature... which actually sort of fits me, too, as I live in the Puget Sound aka Microsoft Land. (They're really not the evil empire everybody makes them to be, btw.) ;)

Funny thing is - I'd met the man who became my husband just the night before, on our first (and very successful, I might add) date. Being cautious, I went ahead and met the other guy the next night as scheduled and it served me well as an example of exactly what I didn't want. :) Met with Mike (now hubby) again the day after, and the rest is history. *grin*