Chinese name for me
simonpettersson
January 05, 2010 at 06:58 AM posted in General DiscussionSo I recieved a mail from my contact in China. He called me "西门". At the end of the mail he asked me if I have a Chinese name. I thought of saying "I do now!" but then I sorta realized "西门" sounds a bit too much like a type of bodily fluid in English. So now I need a new one. I like the "西" since it's both phonetic and meaning-appropriate. But the "门" has to go.
My name in Swedish sounds a bi like "See-mon", where the "mon" is to be pronounced with your best Jamaican accent. My inner 14-year-old wants to name me "西龙" (western dragon!). But that might sound a tad try-hard. Or does it? I have no idea how this stuff is percieved in China. Bruce Lee was called "小龙" after all, wasn't he?
Another possibility is "西明". "明" is quite a common character in Chinese names, isn't it?
I could also take the first character from my last name, I guess, but all tone pairs with a first tone in the second position sound ugly to me (except maybe 3-1), so the "西" might have to go, in that case.
simonpettersson
January 06, 2010 at 05:33 PM
Thanks everyone for your replies. I'm exceedingly busy with studying at the moment. No time to post, I'm a fraid. Will get back to this thread later.
wendy00
January 06, 2010 at 01:08 PM
but seems only the name, no surname.ok,i will give you a surname 吴，if you like.
now your chinese name is 吴希萌。
al_walker
January 06, 2010 at 06:59 AM
So on the subject of "awkward", I was looking for a Chinese version of my name, which I've noticed tends to be pronounced as "ao" as "Al" is hard for Chinese people to say, but neither 傲 nor 奥 have particularly positive connotations (arrogant, obtuse, overbearing - which might be quite accurate but I'm not going reinforce people's perception of me!)
I did like 聱 meaning "difficult to pronounce"! :o)
Alternatively, since people get confused by the first name/second name order thing, perhaps using my surname instead "woke", perhaps 我客 to say that I see myself as a guest in China, which connotates a certain amount of respect, alternatively 我恪 has a similar meaning of respect. Alternatively I could go for an 欧巴马-style 我可.
I did also note that 氪 means Krypton, which is kinda cool! Although trying to imply I'm some kind of Superman with 我氪 might not go down to well!
bababardwan
January 06, 2010 at 01:48 PM
al,
"I did like 聱 meaning "difficult to pronounce"! :o)"
..hehe,classic mate.That could lead to some amusing introductions reminiscent of the "Hu is the President" skit.
"你叫什么名字？”
“是聱”
“好的，不过还是什么？”
“聱 ”
“那，算了吧”
bodawei
January 05, 2010 at 04:06 PM
When I see the 'English' names used by my students, I realise how ridiculous many of our 'Chinese' names are. Look on this as a learning experience and don't rush into a name. You should probably ask a native speaker for advice but in my experience this is not fail-safe. (Perhaps a kind-hearted ChinesePod teacher will give a hand?) Then accept that you will probably change your name when you have progressed further with Chinese.
John
January 06, 2010 at 07:02 AM
Yes... 潘吉 is my Chinese name.
I find that over time, I use it less and less, though. In most cases it just seems more natural for Chinese people to call me by my real name. (And being named "John," it's not as if I have a very tricky name!)
orangina
January 05, 2010 at 02:57 PM
You are a 外国人... you can name yourself anything you want! But I was going for something conventional. 白，潘 and 龙 are all normal enough surnames. (Though I haven't met anyone named 潘。 It was on wikipedia's list of chinese surnames, so I figured it wasn't too uncommon.) I recently met a chinese girl who named herself "Reddy" in english. As someone called "orangina" (at least online) I thought it was creative and fun. If I met an american with that name I would have thought it was pretty cool. But I have to say, since she didn't speak more than a few words of english I thought I misheard her and it took me a while to figure out what she was going for... The moral of the story, I think it will be easier for chinese people to understand if you have a conventional name, even if a chinese person could get away with something a bit offbeat. On the other hand, since you are strange here anyway, might as well run with it!
xiaophil
January 07, 2010 at 04:22 AM
I'm pretty sure the Chinese government requires a Chinese name in many situations. You can change this name if you want as far as I know. I'm pretty sure it is for the sake of letting Chinese people easily communicate about the foreigner in question.
orangina
January 06, 2010 at 06:59 AM
I think for most things you really need to be using the name on your passport anyway. So unless you go get your name legally changed, any chinese name you choose is really a nickname.
tiaopidepi
January 06, 2010 at 06:57 AM
>> You are a 外国人... you can name yourself anything you want!
I always wonder about this. I have a nickname (阿皮), not a "real" Chinese name. I wonder if it would be adequate for basic tasks in China such as registering with the police or getting a library card.
simonpettersson
January 05, 2010 at 02:01 PM
Ha, after nine years of martial arts training, if I don't have at least a few new moves, I'll have wasted my youth. :)
I do like it, too. It makes me sound like an action hero.
Orangina: I can't be 白小明. The beginning sounds like "bajs" ("poop" in Swedish). Oh, the curses of multilingualism! :)
EDIT: I do like "潘", though. It has the "番" component, meaning "foreign". Not sure if I really need a full three-character name, though. Two characters ought to be enough for my purposes, no?
bababardwan
January 05, 2010 at 11:53 AM
I like 西龙 mate。。phonetic and apt.You might have to bring at least a couple of new moves to the table though when you come and take up your 功夫 lessons [or at least allude to the fact that you have a couple up your sleeve that will be revealed when the time is right]
ps just don't try and adapt any of Wimp Lo's moves though,hehe.
orangina
January 05, 2010 at 10:11 AM
I was talking about Chinese names with a friend and he said 小明 is a common (good) name for men, and that is Simonish sounding. Maybe 白小明 or 潘小明. Or you could scrap the idea of basing the first character on your surname and go with 龙小明 to please your inner 14 year old.
Choosing your own name is a bit of an awkward experience, in my opinion! Also awkward... the spelling of "awkward."
Tal
January 06, 2010 at 10:39 PMGet a Chinese Name!
I used the link above to get my first one. Like Simon I'm too busy right now to tell you about how odd and/or hilarious it seemed to many Chinese people when I first came to China!