How to Write Your Name in Chinese

I don't read or speak Chinese, but I know a little about Chinese writing and Chinese names. To most Westerners, Chinese is extremely difficult to comprehend, for a variety of reasons. Here is a series of hints to get you started trying to write your name in Chinese.

Difficulty: Challenging

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Access to a comprehensive Chinese dictionary
• Patience
• Intelligence
• A pen and lots of paper

1. Chinese "characters" do not correspond in any way to what Westerners think of as an alphabet. Each character is a word in itself, and it is invariably a noun. That means that it represents a person, place, or thing. So, the first step in learning to write your name in Chinese is to decide what noun would represent your Western name. In Chinese, since all words are nouns, different combinations represent variations on a basic concept. For instance, a name meaning Beautiful Flower would combine the characters for Beauty and Flower.

2. Looking through a Baby Name book or website will help you choose a noun that closest approximates the meaning of your name. For instance, if your name is Ursula, look for characters meaning Bear and Small thing, as Ursula means Little Bear. Since it is a female name, also look for the character for Female, or Woman. If your name is George, which means Farmer, look for a character meaning Farmer. Since China is traditionally a nation of farmers, this shouldn't be too difficult.

3. Another important characteristic of Chinese characters is what is called "stroke order." It's not enough to simply see a character and copy the lines and dots with which it is constructed. There is an order in which the different elements of the character must be written. There are many tutorials concerning Chinese writing on the World Wide Web. If you are seriously considering learning to write your name in Chinese, it would be a good idea to visit at least one of these. See the links below for more information.

4. Optionally, it would be a good idea to speak with a native Chinese speaker before you commit yourself to a particular character or combination of characters to represent your name. Sometimes there are certain conventions involved in Chinese meanings, such as word order. Also, it's very possible that there are several different characters for what, in English and other Western languages, would be only one word. Make sure you've chosen the correct one to avoid confusion or embarrassment later on. A friendly Chinese speaker or writer is your best resource for the correct character for what you have in mind.

Tips & Warnings

• Be prepared to practice A LOT before your Chinese character looks good enough to suit you. It's a beautifully written language, but getting the words to look right and have proper proportions is unlikely to happen the first time you try.
• Don't neglect to check out the actual meaning of your Chinese characters with someone who understands Chinese as a native speaker. There are fine shades of meaning in most characters, and meaning is important when dealing with names.

Resources

• A Chinese Character Tutorial website
• Chinese Dictionary
• Another Chinese Dictionary and webtools site

[Wasatch]

on 10/2/2009 Interesting topic. Thanks for a fun read.

[will4235]

on 8/29/2009 Very Interesting! Good Article!

[2besure]

on 8/27/2009 When I went to Beijing, I was told, there was not Chinese equivalent to my name. :(

[ljstraight]

on 8/11/2009 I always wondered how they could write like that. 5 stars

[lizzy4041]

on 7/30/2009 I would have my name tattoed in chinese! Thank you for your article!