What Matters When Chinese People Think About Names
When people start to learn a new language, the first few things learners would do is probably to find a good name for themselves in that language.
In Chinese, names are of extreme importance to a person. ‘Don’t worry about being born with the wrong destiny, but being given the wrong name’, in China people believe this.
People in China believe a good name will bring good fortune to a man/woman. For learners of Mandarin Chinese and taking Chinese language classes, your teacher must have already picked a good name for you. Therefore learning about this can be even more essential to you.
So, children are named with qualities their parents hope they will possess to give them a good life in the future. Unlike in the west where we name our children after our elders to show respect, in China, this is considered a very big taboo.
One thing that plays the most important role in name giving in China is a child’s the date of birth and the eight characters of a horoscope. This is based on the traditional Chinese theory of fortune-telling.
Zodiac predictions are frequently used to help parents to pick a suitable name as you want to ensure there is a balance in your child’s life. Chinese names are also very short, with two characters at the most.
For a westerner, it might be hard at the start to hear a difference between male and female given names. As you learn more Chinese you will notice that women’s names emphasize female characteristics like ‘美’ (Mei3, ) ‘beautiful’ or are tied to objects that are seen as feminine ‘莲花’ (lian2 hua1) ‘Lotus flower’.
People in China believe a good name will bring good fortune to a man/woman. For learners of Mandarin Chinese and taking Chinese language classes, your teacher must have already picked a good name for you. Therefore learning about this can be even more essential to you.
So, children are named with qualities their parents hope they will possess to give them a good life in the future. Unlike in the west where we name our children after our elders to show respect, in China, this is considered a very big taboo.
One thing that plays the most important role in name giving in China is a child’s the date of birth and the eight characters of a horoscope. This is based on the traditional Chinese theory of fortune-telling.
Zodiac predictions are frequently used to help parents to pick a suitable name as you want to ensure there is a balance in your child’s life. Chinese names are also very short, with two characters at the most.
For a westerner, it might be hard at the start to hear a difference between male and female given names. As you learn more Chinese you will notice that women’s names emphasize female characteristics like ‘美’ (Mei3, ) ‘beautiful’ or are tied to objects that are seen as feminine ‘莲花’ (lian2 hua1) ‘Lotus flower’.
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