Is your Chinese name REALLY as great as it sounds?

A Chinese name can be hard for English speakers to remember. And even harder to pronounce. Ever notice that many Chinese people adopt an “English” name?

My Chinese girlfriend goes by “Lisa”. Her Chinese name is “Zhou Hong”.

Most English speaking people are familiar with the name “Lisa”. It's straightforward to pronounce and to spell. And people relate to it.

What makes a great English name?

It's easy to find some terrible examples of English names derived from Chinese. Just look at people's names, Chinese food menus, or even product names.

A recent car show featured new automobiles from China with English names like “Rugged Nanny” and “Detroit Fish”. Good intentions, with unfortunate results. The names probably sound cool in Chinese, but not in English.

I once had Chinese co-workers named “Gloomy”,“Fantasy” and “Lust”.

The whole point of a Chinese person taking on an English name is to:

1. Make it easier for English speakers to remember the name.
2. Make it easier for English speakers to pronounce the name.

I suppose Fantasy or Gloomy or even Lust succeeds on those criteria. But those don't sound like names. They sound like characters from Salvador Dali's version of “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs”.

We need a third criteria for a “good English name”:

3. Leave a favorable impression.

And one last example...she's an enthusiastic English student I met at a Chinese university. She really has a wonderful attitude. And she introduced herself to me a number of times.

Why so many times?

It took a few times for the name to actually sink it. It was that unusual. It sounded like she was saying her name was “Icy me”.

It sounded like she was saying her name was Icy me?

After some clarification, yes, her name really is “Icy me”. She spells it Icmi.

Oooo-kaaay?

Then she proudly said, with the biggest smile on her adorable face: “It stands for ‘I can MAKE IT!’”

All I could do was smile. And hope that everyone she meets will enjoy her enthusiasm and drive, and overlook her awkward sounding name.

Turning the tables

So what's the point of these examples of goofy English names from Chinese people?

Let's face it, if you have a Chinese girlfriend, you'll probably visit China sometime. Maybe meet her friends and family.

And they might find your English name hard to remember or pronounce.

And they might ask if YOU have a Chinese name!

Do you?

When I finally got a Chinese name, I'm embarrassed to say it was probably sillier than all the examples I've listed so far.

It started as Yang Jian Long. Which means strong, white dragon.

Then I changed it to Zhu Jian Long. Which means strong, crimson dragon. Zhu also sounds similar to the word for pig. And since pig is my astrological sign in the Chinese horoscope, I thought it was a cool Chinese name.

I remember standing in front of a classroom, introducing myself as the new English teacher to the Chinese students. And when I told them my Chinese name, the whole room just burst into laughter for several minutes.

My face immediately turned that same shade of crimson as my Chinese name.

Oops. I goofed. It was a very silly sounding name.

I'll probably never know how silly it was. From the laughter, likely about the same as if I introduced myself as the “Rugged Nanny”.

How did I fix it?

How to get a great Chinese name.

You bet your bamboo I got a new name. And this time, my Chinese girlfriend's Dad selected the name. He's a news reporter, he loves doing research and he loves the Chinese language. And he really likes consulting the Chinese traditional calendar.

He even made sure that the name had an appropriate number of brushstrokes when it's written. Some people study the number of strokes and apply Chinese numerology to add an extra layer of hidden meanings in a name.

And if that weren't enough, he checked my birthday and made sure the name jived. Apparently names and birthdates need to be harmonious in China.

And to top it off, he found a name that actually sounds a little bit like my English name.

But wait, there's more...somehow --- he found a name that starts with the same character as my home country's name in Chinese! I had a bit of my country's name in my own name!

Unbelievable. So it was a no brainer. Other friends tried to help me with other Chinese names, but this name was unbeatable.

My English name is Jeff. And my Chinese name: Jia Feng. And it means, “Adding Abundance” - with connotations of having more than enough of all the best things in life.

I like it.

So my advice to you?

Don't just make up a Chinese name. You'll end up with the Chinese version of “Lust” or “Icmi”. Or worse yet, “Detroit Fish”.

Consult with someone who knows what they are doing. Someone Chinese. Someone who will put a bit of effort into coming up with a really great name.