English Names vs. Chinese Names: Things You Didn't Know About Chinese Names

Chinese names are mostly all unique. The way Chinese names are given are very different then in the west. Here are some things you didn't know about Chinese names.
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[@ChenBritMi]

I know a girl whose name was Wai-Ting, and her English name was waiting

[@tianwenma8598]

+ChenBritMi hahahaha

[@driftingdruid]

+ChenBritMi poor girl :(

[@user-hb8ki9wu6g]

Once upon a time,there was a man whose name is Fu Keyou（付克友）,and then.......is no then.

[@criskity]

+安言 In Singapore, I saw the gravestone of someone with the given name 福耀. Unfortunately, the person was Cantonese, because his name was spelled Fuk Yiu in English.

[@terralim6849]

+CNVideos my names 彤恩. When westerners read my name, they think 彤 is the first name and they say Thong. I'm a frikin' piece of underwear.

[@marieeuthalia8626]

"A lot of thought in your name." My chinese name literally means 'youngest sister' in Mandarin; pretty great thought process.

[@kyonaerinphwa3032]

Your name is Mei mei?

[@cochan7347]

@@kyonaerinphwa3032 youngest would be 幺妹

[@supitsjia9773]

Mine is older sister (JieJie 姐姐) therefore we are siblings 😆💜

[@bbmozie]

Never tell your Chinese name to a non-Chinese speaker, or otherwise your name gonna be called in a really ridiculous way…

[@suyashmallik118]

Something's wrong...

[@suyashmallik118]

@The Internet OMG I waited a month for someone to ask me that! Commenter's name is Sum Ting Wong... 😛

[@meihwadeclerk3147]

Man do I know that feeling, even my own family still struggles with it and I am now 19..

[@teaxtae5619]

Sum Ting Wong XD something’s wrong!!!!!

[@leonjiang3911]

Yeah so true...

[@lovesun01]

My Chinese name means “cloud” (雲) and my family has a thing for giving us themed names so we match. It’s mainly natural things in the sky. For example, my cousins Chinese names are moon, snow, star, rainbow, etc.

[@raexjl3008]

Damn that's cool

[@byak6687]

mine is rainbow 😀

[@picklecat4819]

That is awesome!!

[@sealdew5348]

Most of my family has gold or money in their names...

[@thefrogagenda5148]

@@sealdew5348 That’s funny because my Dad was named after a jewellery store owner and his English name is “Richard”😂

[@Irene8127]

Hey! I just accidentally came across this video and u guys really did a good job. I really enjoyed it! Just one thing. Dan's Chinese name"大音（da yin), which comes from LaoZi's scripture"大音希聲", actually means "the real loud/beautify sound/music is actually no sound" or "great music has few voices". It reflects Chinese philosophy and aesthetic standard. It's really a good name!

[@aly4760]

I am an ESL Instructor and I have had students, both Chinese and Korean, who have picked their own English name. Oh my goodness... the stories I have.

[@falcontomto]

both my first name Yat(溢) and my young brother's Tsun(溱) mean "flood" in chinese. they told me it is because on the night i were born, there was a serious flood in my home town. and when my bro was born, they simply didn't want to spend time on thinking of a name so they just pick a synonym of my name from a dictionary. naming children casually IS a problem. my last name is To(陶), so my full name sounds just like "to escape"(逃逸) in cantonese and kids were always making fun of my name. and somehow all my teachers, even my chinese teachers, can't pronounce my first name correctly until high school. btw, the first name of my parents mean "the origin of beauty"(錦源) and "to praise the germination"(詠萌). both of them have such a poetic name, and somehow they named us *FLOOD*. what a joke.

[@linghuas5252]

it is so careless,lol

[@rahuldhargalkar]

It's alright. It's your name, your story and that's what makes it special (:

[@deusexrockina]

Nah Yat that's a cool name. The drip so intense he caused a flood.

[@finnjake6663]

Facts lol

[@aeircrown7994]

Actually, the naming scheme made sense since water is a significant reason why life exist in the first place, water is the creation of the origin of beauty and plant, it's a shame that it's just flood lol.

[@tytracy1369]

you forget about zibei (字辈) to show seniority in the family, like all siblings and cousins have the same zibei, and farther and his siblings and cousins have the same zibei

[@wendyliu4775]

Doesn't happen as often now...which is sad.

[@jennywijaya855]

tytracy1369 my family are also like that. Only happened to boy though. Does not apply to girl

[@linangshuan7305]

@@jennywijaya855 my family applies to girls as well- I live in a foreign country so it's kinda of a headache to have all my siblings in the same class, teachers get trouble when they reach the J in presence list.

[@Yuri3088]

I'm married to a Chinese man and I have a 20 months old daughter. her English name is Sophia. her Chinese name means beautiful jade. her dad pick her nam.

[@bobsmith2402]

Yuli Castro is that Meiyu 美玉 ? Awesome name

[@cochan7347]

Or 琼qiong or 瑶yao or 瑾 or 璇 or 珞.... so many names for so many different ancient beautiful (and expensive lol) jades

[@blueberrybun]

I was scrolling through KZbin, and stumbled upon you guys. Watched one video and now I am HOOKED! Finally a channel about my culture and heritage, and a channel that I can genuinely relate to. I'm so glad I found you guys. SUBSCRIBED!

[@NTDOffTheGreatWall]

Eujene Liyu thansk for finding us!!!!!!

[@LegoAventuras1718]

im From Mexico and even tho is not about my culture im also hooked on this channel! Last night i watched a video and as soon as it ended i subscribed cause i like it! now im watching all the vids!

[@jhumphrey9485]

To add to the point of Westerners having three names (at least in the U.S.). Your middle name is usually after a family member... but, in my opinion, I think it's just a way to let you know that you are in trouble. Because if your mother\father call you by your first and middle name, it strikes terror in the hearts of U.S. children.

[@patrickhodson8715]

I knew of a Chinese guy who gave himself the name "Stonchor" a combination of "Stone" and "Anchor" XD

[@emilynelson6502]

My bf's name is Wilfred, and his Chinese name is Wifi 😂. Not spelled that way, but that's what it sound like. Wifi.

[@DiepJustin]

Lol so funny

[@AngAggrOrienDragonSean]

歪废？

[@FitnessSweets]

Emily Nelson"There's no Wifi here...""Babe, I'm right here." Heh.

[@emilynelson6502]

Definitely not mistaken. It is even on his US ID as his middle name. His family is from Hong Kong and speaks Cantonese, if that makes a difference. But that is Forster his Chinese name...

[@emilynelson6502]

I just ask him and it is Wong Wai Fai. He said he thinks it means something about soldiering, but isn't sure exactly what. But that is for sure his name.

[@gogumadalpaengi]

I'm Korean and my partner is Chinese. Our baby is due in two weeks and he went craaaaazy over picking a name! Since we live in Europe, we want her to have a Western first and an Asian middle name, so that she won't be picked on or so but still has a connection to her origins. Both names had to be acceptable im Chinese (like when you have a Western two syllabus first name that can be pronounced to mean something horrible in Chinese) and especially the Asian one, had to have a good meaning in Chinese AND Korean. Finally, her Chinese name is gonna be Jin-Yu (Gold and Perfection/Jade). (The Korean meaning is Precious and Perfection/Jade). We did however take the Jin character from my brother's Western name 'Kim', meaning Gold in Korean (although it is a last name and pronounced Goum when used in a first name) and go by the sound (keeping Jin-Yu im Korean rather than Goum-Yu) which does change the meaning slightly when switching languages.

[@liongkienfai104]

Stéphanie OkHee thats really cool. i wonder how the name would go if the pairing were japanese and chinese. My cousins are japanese and chinese indonesian born in australia and their japanese and chinese names are completely different

[@hanchen3932]

Stéphanie OkHee 金玉

[@puppytruclove1stardoll209]

Kim is perfect name! Its an Asian and English name.

[@KarlArty]

Han Chen lol

[@gogumadalpaengi]

Han Chen Karl Arty​ 金瑜

[@demusicrox]

I go to a school with a lot of international students, and a lot of my friends are from China. They gave me the name 孙睿心 (Sun Ruixin) and told me that it means "wise heart". I was touched!

[@cochan7347]

wow that's good name. Where did the 孙 come from?

[@rahuldhargalkar]

I want one Chinese name too!

[@demusicrox]

筝弦Cochan my surname sounds similar, so that’s how my friends chose it

[@lilyslimegacha8399]

@@cochan7347 that’s her last name

[@cochan7347]

@@lilyslimegacha8399 OP is not Chinese if I got it right, so I was curious why her Chinese friends gave her this surname.

[@__arikito4002]

Another method that some Chinese people use. They would consult a monk, who will attempt to read the elements in their child, and their name will contain the element that they lack. So if you lacked wood, you're name would contain the character 木, or if you lacked fire, you could have the character 火 in your name. And by character, I don't mean that that's you name per say, it's more like a part of a word? So like 爆 has the 火 character. (Though I doubt people use 爆 as a name....)

[@wujiajia5314]

my parents did that

[@emtay7515]

My english name is Emily Taylor and my Chinese name is 泰美丽 which is supposed to sound like my english name but also sounds like 太美丽！

[@NTDOffTheGreatWall]

Emily Taylor yea haha 太美丽 def comes to mind first

[@yuan0207]

Emily Taylor Normally people would use 艾美莉...It's a more decent name not to be joke around and decent in official events. Just think, what is your reaction if some guy come and intro himself as, "Hi! I'm Handsome/Charming. Nice to meet you."

[@emtay7515]

I see what you mean. But my chinese teacher did give it to me and most chinese people seem to think it's cute lol

[@yuan0207]

Emily Taylor Cause you look cute now. Wait another 30 yrs and tell me the same thing :D

[@michaelyoung6307]

Emily Taylor You looks 美丽 too, really match.

[@GabiAPF]

I never understood why some people name their kids after themselves.

[@gatheringleaves]

Me neither, every person is an individual

[@rockobyt7857]

Let me answer your question some people name thier children after them cuz the want thiier name to continue in the family

[@rockobyt7857]

It's call family cycle

[@gunjchowwiwat8357]

Yeah! You don't understand!

[@y.k.9705]

You're probably Jewish? Jews don't name the children after themselves.

[@raghav19vvvv]

This was very informative, thanks!

[@mieomieo92]

Vietnamese names are given according to their meaning too. My name means "shining pearl", my sister name mean "beautiful/pretty" (the words in her name are not used in daily conversation, only used in hystorical poem so it's really good to hear).

[@meihwadeclerk3147]

My name is Mei-Hwa and is Mandarin for plum-blossom, and I totally understand the very long naming as well, because in the traditional Afrikaner culture the first son would get names from both of their grandfathers and the same goes for the daughters who gets their grandmothers' names. For example I have a friend who is Jacobus Albertus Johannes and then his younger brother is Jacobus Petrus and their sister, who is the eldest, is Anna Celia. Kinda makes this difficult when you call a name and like three people respond to it. My grandmother on my mother's side is Martha Johanna Susanna, but luckily I only have two names as does my brother who got his second name from our grandfather on my mother's side while I got my second name from my grandmother on my father's side. I found this video very interesting! :)

[@NTDOffTheGreatWall]

if you know someone who gave themselves an interesting English name, let us know!

[@venetiazhu3331]

I can relate to the Asian name confusions...

[@sedaters]

I knew someone Asian who wanted to be call "juicy".

[@MsKatiekittykat]

Off the Great Wall My aunt's best friend in China insisted she call her Apple :)

[@LosDynasty]

I remember watching a Taiwan variety show and the girl was called Strawberry.

[@sunispretty]

Off the Great Wall I was born with 李姗姗 or Li, Shanshan (english translated name) and of course no one can prenounce it so I call myself Sun

[@davidhalldurham]

What a fascinating episode! One of your best ever!

[@jas528]

I've just discovered this channel after all these years using it. you know what, I love this channel already!

[@VIPShirlee03]

LOL at Dan's reaction when Mike Reveals his Little name to be "DONG DONG"

[@Aytrex87]

VIPShirlee03 Lol Dan was named well considering that reaction

[@the18Ting]

VIPShirlee03 haha what a cute little name! I can totally imagine Mike as a cute little boy ^_^

[@androy5188]

EXPANDING DONG

[@user-hv5fp8gt5g]

L O L

[@kai2xin1]

In southeast asia, we (chinese) have a way of giving names. For example, we have our surname, then each generation has a word that represents which generation you belong to. My name is 凯欣, and most of my perternal cousins have the word 凯 in their name (凯琪, 凯彦, 凯毅, 凯文). So we are known as the 凯字辈. And the same for my maternal cousins, 仁字辈 (仁杰, 仁龙, 仁兴, 仁祥, 仁恩). Does this applies to most chinese or just SEA?

[@kai2xin1]

By the way, we still follow our parent's surname. That makes our names 3 characters.

[@kai2xin1]

Sorry, i was commenting while watching the video, hence the multiple comments. I was in UK and Europe for about 2 months for summer exchange. I just introduce myself as Kai instead of trying to get people to pronounce it. Kai xin becomes kay shing. And i didn't bother to give myself an English name.

[@willliu8944]

It's still the same in mainland China.

[@kai2xin1]

Katie S same here, now it has become more of an option. I have cousins whose names are very different as well. :)

[@xuapril32]

kai2xin1 I've never really thought about it, but my mom's side of the family kind of has this (my mom and two uncles). Without surnames, my mom is weihong, one uncle is hongming, the other is guoming (I don't know how to write the characters haha). So each name is kinda related to another one. I don't know if my grandparents named them according to the "rule"you mentioned, but I still find it interesting. also, I noticed your name sounds like 开心 which is nice :)

[@xaochay]

You guys are great, I love watching you guys. You make things entertaining and at the same time, people who do list, it is easy for them to understand what you all are talking about. Awesome 👌

[@hortensiasrl6417]

that was awesome ! learnt so much

[@portolo]

Felicia comes from the Latin for happiness, so technically her parents still named her after the "yuè" meaning ;)

[@velonicatgmaildotcom]

Thanks for the video guys and gals. It helps those of us who are genuinely interested in learning about other cultures. You make it fun and informative. Keep it up!

[@NTDOffTheGreatWall]

Nicholas Westlund Thanks :-)

[@velonicatgmaildotcom]

I touched the Great Wall!

[@globsnark2081]

I've watched several of your videos. I've been very impressed.

[@Lovely-Lily22]

I loved this video so much, and learned a lot ! Always wondered about chinese names, you guys need to do more video like this one :)

[@Measuring0Cups]

When I was living in China, I met a surprising amount of Chinese people named Apple. Also met a kid named Tiger. And... not sure if it was a joke or not, but my Chinese name is 黄美兰. Yellow, because of my blond hair. Beautiful, because I'm gorgeous of course. Orchid, because it's a tall skinny flower. The ladies who gave it to me all agreed it was a perfect description. I might as well keep it.

[@MagicalKid]

+Kim Mason Yes many Chinese people have fruit names like Apple, Orange, Cherry, Peach but not guava or papaya. Your name is nice and very traditional.

[@hoangle2897]

+Kim Mason: you share the same name with me. My Vietnamese name is "Hoang" (a sino - vietnamese word - originating from chinese but pronounced vietnamese accent), which chinese people pronounce it "Huang" - Yellow. In fact, chinese names you ever met are not a joke. I list some common names in China, and Vietnam as well, along with their meaning Xiong (chinese) - Hùng (sino-vietnamese) - meaning BEAR, or STRONG Long (chinese) - Long (sino - vietnamese) - meaning DRAGON Yang (chinese) - Dương (sino - vietnamese) - meaning GOAT Peng (chinese) - Bằng (sino - vietnamse) - meaning EAGLE Feng (chinese) - Phong (sino - vietnamese) - meaning WIND Ming (chinese) - Minh (sino - vietnamese) - meaning BRIGHT He or Jiang (chinese) - Hà or Giang (sino - vietnamese) - meaning RIVER Mei (chinese) - Mỹ (sino - vietnamese) - meaning BEAUTIFUL Wu (chinese) - Vũ (sino - vietnamese) - meaning GREAT or ATTACK Lin (chinese) - Lâm (sino - vietnamese) - meaning FOREST Qing (chinese) - Thanh (sino - vietnamese) - meaning BLUE Wang (chinese) - Vương (sino - vietnamese) - meaning KING Hai (chinese) - Hải (sino - vietnamese) - meaning SEA

[@lilacorze]

Apple is pronounced the same as peaceful in Chinese. Ping

[@user-ee8yh8vf1f]

You mean 萍(PING)? It doesn't mean apple. It's duckweed. There are idioms like 萍水相逢. It also sounds like 平, which can mean 平安(safe) or 平静(peaceful).

[@melodiexu5625]

I know a kid named "WiFi".

[@pointlessvideos010]

DONG DONG

[@Straddllw]

JadesGamesSuck Ahahahhaahaha. GG Mike.

[@valtterijarvinen6718]

Dōng Dōng

[@AngAggrOrienDragonSean]

动洞

[@AlbinoRaccoon97]

AngAggrOrienDragon Sean 冬冬

[@dudeitsalexthefirst]

Moon Moon

[@123456711751]

Thanks, I enjoyed the video!

[@rahuldhargalkar]

Loved all your names, the meanings behind them 😄

[@NTDOffTheGreatWall]

If you are not Chinese and have a Chinese name, what is it?

[@ruri5325]

Off the Great Wall "Liuli" because my Japanese nickname is "Ruri".

[@urmakichan]

My Chinese name is Mo Xin Yi. It's means happy. Good thing my Chinese 1 teacher choose it than me translate my real name.

[@MyLoneKingdom]

Is Gao a Chinese name? If so, what's the meaning?

[@Brandon-di2km]

Off the Great Wall Baak Leung-fu (Canto for Bai Liang Fu). White Light Wealth

[@chillchillpill]

Off the Great Wall Not Chinese, but mine is 舞久, which means "dance forever". When my missus was angry, she used to leave me notes with 悪行("go to hell!") instead, which sounds the same!

[@moonhwi3754]

My name is 冯文希。文，related to studying. 希, to have hope. My "小名" is in dialect. Ah Hei. It's Cantonese.

[@minsuga5989]

Armyyy

[@rangnengshentu8278]

Sounds weird, the Chinese in the past usually have names like 希烈，希夷，希闵 etc, the character 希 had always preceded the other character in given names.

[@awqs34]

Jimenez ! ARMY4LIFE!

[@user-uf3zw9jt1o]

은재 Cantonese isn't dialect.im Cantonese from China

[@tomhuang8368]

It is totally NOT weird in Cantonese culture. Nor is it uncommon. Not sure about other regional dialects, but 希, as well as 熙, IMO sounds more natural at the end of a name in Cantonese than in Mandarin. I knew it was Cantonese at the first sight. It is as simple as that. And it is a beautiful, good sounding name. 文 could also mean nice, decent, courteous, while used in girls names.

[@karonhiio_d]

Nice video guys! (nice shoes Dan!)

[@DarthRane113]

this was.both informative and entertaining:) Dong dong ! haha

[@leannyly]

My mother is from Singapore (Chinese-speaking) and I was made to believe that my name (Leanne spelled the English way) in the Chinese language (Lián, 莲) means lotus or the lotus flower... I may have been lied to!!

[@YummYakitori]

In Singapore, female gangsters are actually known as 阿花 (Ah Huey) or 阿蓮 (Ah Lian). Male gangsters are known as 阿明 (Ah Beng) or 阿成 (Ah Seng).

[@RonLarhz]

+YummYakitori damn,do u have to rub it i for her?!

[@myu2740]

Wait... does that mean you're not Singaporean? Does your mum call you Ah Lian ah? :D

[@dorawang5451]

it's 莲 water lily flower, 荷 is lotus.

[@cochan7347]

莲 is lotus flower. Water lily is 睡莲. Actually ancient Chinese think they are same spiece.

[@lettuceee]

諸葛亮's last name is 諸葛, not just the single character 諸. That is why he is also called 諸葛孔明. And "小名" is certainly NOT an official part of the name. IMO, I believe it is really a just a tradition of having nicknames for young kids. I believe it was mainly started from ancient Chinese parents trying to confuse deity and avoid divine punishment targeted toward their young kids. That's why little kids were mostly nicknamed to be "Little pig, Little cow, etc".

[@RaymondChia_Silaqui]

lettuceee Legend has it, little kids were given unappealing nicknames so that ghost and demons would mistake the kids as what they are called and leave them alone and not possess or kidnap them.

[@yuan0207]

lettuceee Doesn't have to be that case....Cao Cao a.k.a Cao Mengde 曹操字孟德 so CaoCao is name parents gave and Cao Mengde is a self given or close friend given name. Little name 阿瞒. Another example from late Qing Dynasty, one of the extreme cases: 孙文Sun Wen，Later change to 中山樵 Nakayama Kikori Little name 帝象Dixiang (Imperial Elephant) Family book name 德明Deming 字(self-named) 载之Zai Zhi Nick 日新 New sun or Nissin in Japanese Known by later people as 孙中山 Sun Zhong San aka Mr. Sun Yat-Sen

[@user-dl3kw2hx7w]

Shyangyuan Koh In fact, chinese name is saparate into 『名』and 『字』in ancient china.Like 『曹操』，his 名 is 『操』，and his 字 is 『孟德』,so this is why 曹操 also call as 曹孟德. Both 名 and 字 are given by parents, but 名 is given since the baby born，but 字 is given when a boy or a girl is 15 and they are having Coming-of-age Ceremony （冠禮/笄禮）. After that, only their parents, elder or close friend can call them by 名, other people can only call them my 字. So, 孫文's 名 文, 字載之, 中山樵 Nakayama Kikori is a name he used when he is in Japan. He self-named name （號） is 逸仙. So, if you were live in the same era with him, you can call him 『孫載之』or 『孫逸仙』

[@jerrysong9957]

菲尔琦 some people also have . 诸葛亮， 字孔明，号卧龙.

[@user-dl3kw2hx7w]

yes, of course.But 号 is a name that given by somebody else or himself. So one person can have many 号， but only have one 名 and 字

[@shevsch8108]

you guys are great! :D

[@natnat852sh]

very interesting!! the dong dong part is sooooo funny lol

[@celticphoenix2579]

I come from two blended cultures. My father's family were English and my mother's family were German / Dutch. My father's line has many many males all named the same and my father said it had to do with succession lines and also to do with inheriting the family signet ring which would have to be re-made if you as the eldest son had a different first name. In my mother's line both boys and girls are named after parents or grandparents but usually only for the first name. The second name was your unique name and your eke name (nickname) was a shortening of your first name. So for example my Aunt Beatrice is named after an ancestor named Beatrix. My brother is named for both his grandfathers. My one cousin is named after his father. In the German / Dutch culture it is considered to be giving honour to the ancestor to name your child after them.

[@CrazyMoestashh]

I'm half chinese and half dutch. I was born in the netherlands and still live here, so i have a dutch passport, which means my english/real name is Mika, and my chinese/fake name is 米加 (Mǐ jiā). Yep. It literally means 'rice plus', but i wanted it to sound like Mika...

[@antonioying6088]

Mika mika is hard to transliterate. i think 美嘉/美佳 (mei3 jia1) are fantastic choices. both mean beautiful good

[@Ban00]

You just earned a new subscriber (y) Keep up the interesting videos

[@yiwanye3794]

i love Dan's reaction...

[@CalvinLimuel]

This is surprisingly not covered in the video, but Chinese people used to have "generation poems 班次聯" as part of their naming system! Each family has a different poem, it can be long or short, and every generation of siblings is given the same character of the poem, their children would have the next character in the poem as their 班次. And if you're run out of characters (you've ended the poem cycle), you start back again at the beginning of the poem. That's how I was named by my grandparents. So my name is 林德耀 and my brother's name is 林德漾. We have the same middle name. And I found out that my family has a tradition (I don't know about other family) to name the boys generational+given name, but the girls given+generation name. For example, this is what I found on my family's relative's tombstone in my grandfather's home village: 李男: 成白、成全、成恩、成典、成𡞵。李女：巧琴、賜琴、玉琴。 But sometime after the civil war and after the government people stopped using the generational poems, starting from probably Mao Zedong. While Taiwanese and a probably a number of Chinese communities out there might still use this rule, like my father's dad. But my father and I know nothing about the poem. I'd like to name my kids using this rule and if they'll have a good word, hope I can get the poem somehow before my grandfather dies. And for the more superstitious Chinese people, they might go to a name-giver and to be given names according to the number of strokes. This is also practiced by some Japanese people. By the way, my name here "Calvin Yehezkiel Limuel" is the name on my birth certificate in Indonesia. Like Mia here, who's also a Chinese Indonesian. This is another whole story, unlike some Chinese people who upon coming to places like the US would choose an English name so it would be easier to pronounce. Actually the Chinese people have been in Indonesia for a long long time and they used to just use their dialect (mostly hokkien) pronunciation/romanization for the papers, variants may show because of difference in spelling (English influence vs. Dutch influence). But around the 1960s, the government under Soeharto's regime issued a lot of anti-Chinese legislations, including curbing Chinese cultural preservation, closing Chinese speaking schools, as well as "suggesting" them to adopt more "Indonesian-sounding" names, before they were annulled by our fourth and fifth presidents in 2000-2002. Some refused to consent, like Yap Thiam Hien, a Chinese-Indonesian laywer who was also a staunch human rights activist upholding the rights of particularly the Chinese Indonesian citizens. I even have a friend at school whose legal name is in traditional three syllable name (with hokkien pronunciation) before the rule was annulled. But some eventually adopted their surnames to a more Indonesian sounding names. Some incorporate the Chinese letter as a syllable, so for example people surnamed "Tan" would convert it to, "Sutanto", "Hartanto", "Tanoewidjaja (Dutch spelling)/Tanuwijaya", "Peng" might convert to "Pangestu" (means "well" in Sundanese), but some might convert it as a translation, for example Lim (forest) is wana in Javanese, add a male name prefix -ndi, it becomes Wanandi. After the rules were annulled, some Chinese reverted back to their Chinese names, but many keep them. My father has another story. So he was born in the 60s, grew up in an island having less of the government influence, his father didn't really know about the new legislation, although I forgot his name "Kalip" was either chosen by him or his father, I'll have to check that again. But he and his siblings just started changing their legal names when they turned adults. One of my dad's sister didn't have to because she moved to Singapore, some of my dad's brothers changed their "Lim" into "Halim" (a very common name for a "Lim" to convert to). My dad changed it to Limuel, adapted from King Solomon's alias from Proverbs 31, "Lemuel". I don't think I have a little name/diminutive. My father's name is 林餘坡, during his childhood he would be just called either Yu-po or a-po 啊坡.

[@plushieangela]

Dong dong sounds so adorable :D

[@leighlolos5529]

I recently stumbled upon your channel. I'm fascinated. I was raised mostly by my biological mother in Virginia who led me to believe that my father (who I only knew as a young child) was Thai. In recent years, I have learned that although my family lives in Thailand, they originally came from China! Thanks for dropping some Chinese knowledge!

[@domingohernandezdejesus6018]

very educational and fun. I'm one of those Hispanics with two surnames. And because I became a Buddhist I was given a Chinese dharma name which is Ming Huey meaning Bright Wisdom. Keep up the good work.

[@Andrei-yv8fz]

Why are the girls embarrassed of their Chinese names? I don't understand, but I don't even have a Western nickname. I won't change who I am for someone else's convenience. Westerners learn how to pronounce my name after some time, you just have to give it some time and patience, and I don't care if anyone makes fun of me. I really don't understand why some Asians are so ashamed of their culture. No way will I ever pick a Western name.

[@joeacnatety]

我的名字是黃祖業 My dad gave me my english name and my grandfather gave me my chinese name

[@xiaodai125]

祖(Ancestor) 業(business or propety) 黃(last name,in normal word means yellow)

[@Ryan-si6qu]

Joseph Nusbaum pretty much what happened with me. My parents gave me my name and my Korean and Chinese grandparents gave me my middle name

[@alisonmak8361]

Sounds like a Cantonese name. 祖业=Ancestors' achievements. Great name with your grandfather's hope for you to carry on your family's greatness with you I guess :D

[@NouHang]

Dan, I love you!!! you are too funny, and such a bully to Mike haha xD DongDong!

[@agapije]

Lot of fun! U r so hilarious! 🤣🤣🤣

[@maryamajir6287]

Haha. Love this. So nice to get an insight on another culture. Love Chinese history. Rich ancient civilisation.

[@allies7184]

My nieces and nephews 'little names' are Share Bear, Stevo, Stefi, and Junior Mint'. They are almost 30 years old and we still call them that.

[@kigomaboy]

This is great, thank you! I teach ESL to Chinese students and I really struggle with pronouncing their names. Luckily, some of them do choose English names. I haven't have a "Refrigerator," but I have had a "Chocolate" and a "Fairy!"

[@Andrew_Warden]

This is all so interesting. I remember I looked up if my name had a translation phoenetically and apparently there is a name that is used that roughly sounded like it

[@Triumvirate888]

We have "little names" in English too. We call them Diminutives (dim in yu tiv), and they are names that imply smallness, intimacy, and endearment. Calling people things like darling, kitten, precious are all "little names". But also making a name sound little-kid-like also works, such as calling a guy named Tom "Tommy", or a girl named Ann "Annie". It makes them sound smaller.

[@jessicasebastiao9069]

I'm African (Congolese and Angolan) and usually in Congo you would include both parents surnames, forenames or middle names in their child's name- however, your surname will be in the middle e.g. Mia Liz Taylor will be Mia Taylor Liz. In Angola, its more like the rest of Europe, you take your fathers surname. So my name is Jessica N'dombe Sebastiao. My middle name is my grandmothers maiden name and my last name is my mothers surname (my grandfathers surname). However I was originally born Jessica Makambo N'dombe which is my fathers surname and my mother's middle name (my grandmothers maiden name). Suuuuper confusing!

[@gwangvatar]

in spanish your last name is sebastian

[@jessicasebastiao9069]

its Sebastian in English too ^-^

[@gwangvatar]

and its sebastian in german too

[@jessicasebastiao9069]

Nabil Tohoin ya habibi lol, my name never changes

[@gwangvatar]

most portuguese words end with O i dont know why in spanish it ends like EZ

[@SrTeetsMcgeets]

Hey guys! I really like your videos, thank you for posting. They are informative and entertaining. I am sorry that you have to put up with some people's rude, off-color remarks in the comments section. But as for all us normal people out here, we appreciate your work.

[@GM6701]

You guys are really funny :D

[@John5mith]

traditionally , most Chinese should have a 3-character name, the first one is the surname, the middle one is chosen in turn by family tradition(kind of a combination cycle of several characters ) , the last one is the given name. The middle name is for avoiding repeating( for families with the same surname, but living in different cities/provinces, the combination cycles are different ) my family combination is 觀 光 祖 德。。。mine is 祖 , but in recent decades, most mainland Chinese seemed abandoned this tradition, and chose a 2-character name or didn't follow the family rules.

[@John5mith]

the situation you mentioned in Taiwan that they have names with 3 characters, is the case as I described.

[@xiaoyanhuang998]

I am Chinese and i have a Chinese name it's : 江明洁 and it means clean, neat, sparkling river.

[@shuocheng3058]

Xiaoyan Huang that is different from xiaoyuan huang which is ur account name

[@anni8456]

I find names really interesting! In Finland we get names from the nature. like your 1st name can be Hilla = cloudberry and your last name Kettunen= Kettu=fox (-nen is really typical ending in last names) or it can also be just the word like Korpi=wilderness. my last name is really typical nature-like but my 1st name is quite foreign (so it's not always like that)

[@milkcarton50]

the way that all of the great wall adverts say in cinemas 17th but I watch it on the 16th

[@NTDOffTheGreatWall]

what's your little name?

[@cynthiamsun]

慧慧 from my Chinese name 明慧 or 性地 (Cindy) from my English name Cynthia ^^

[@elva3566]

My whole family called me Bao Bao（宝宝）*baby* because I was the youngest, after my younger cousins were born they called me Ning Ning（宁宁）which is a character in my name. I'm sure it has another meaning, I just don't remember.

[@sallyxie140]

My little name is 梦梦 and my full name is 谢梦书 my parents wanted me to have big dreams and to have good grades. (Like which Chinese parent doesn't want you to have good grades)

[@arpadhorvath544]

Off the Great Wall I have been learning chinese for 2 months. My teacher gave a chinese name all of us. My name is Yáng Chénglong. :) Awesome videos, keep going!

[@margaretf.3130]

my chinese name is 费梅莉 with the characters of jasmine and plum blossom and it sounds like beautiful.

[@kokoboptree5204]

My race is Chinese and I have learnt mandarin for all my life, but I still don't know try meaning of my name ...crap

[@moonhwi3754]

ARMY AGAIN

[@moonhwi3754]

I love how ARMY is everywhere. Although I'm Chinese and I speak mandarin Cantonese and hakka😂

[@kokoboptree5204]

Shows how much Bts has grown in popularity eh

[@moonhwi3754]

AHAHAHAH yes. Esp since I've been around since predebut, last time it was SONES and ELF everywhere now I'm finally seeing ARMYs EVERYWHERE. watching a pimple popping video, ARMY. Watching a nerdy video, ARMY. Watching Dan and Phil, ARMY. And lately, within King Bach, ARMYYYYYY.

[@user-lo5oj1xp7p]

aye army. but same Im chinese but I can't speak any Chinese at all and I don't know what my name means 😂😂

[@doracrowl3488]

I really enjoy your KZbin channels. I find it interesting how difficult the culture are and yet similar they are. My husband and adopted our daughter from China when she was 9 months old. We have two boys of our own. Name have always been meaningful to me and we did put a lot of thought into her English name. here was my thought process. Shao Ming Tao. I know the Shao is from Hunan, Shaoyang this city in which she was found. I was told that Ming ment bright and Tao ment brave. we gave her these names; Cheyann (the girl name we had always wanted to use since our first child and there is no one in out family with that name.) yes, it is the same name as the American tribe, Cheyenne. We changed the spelling to look more like a girls name as well as, my middle name is Ann, so a little bit after me. Next we gave her Claral, in french means bright, luminat as well as honoring my deceased grandmother who's name was Clara. Third we kept Tao. The orphanage told us they called Tao Tao. I guess that would have been her 'little name'. Lastly is our surname Crowl, a German name that we gave no idea of its meaning. How did we do mixing the cultures and naming our daughter? while on the subject of adopting a Chinese baby. Do you have any videos on this subject? I'm interested in how accepted it is for Americans raising Asian children and how these children will be accepted as adults in Asian communities? Keep up the videos you hard work is appreciated!

[@newvoid5827]

My parents worked in Hong Kong and one of their friends chose "microchip" as their english name and i actually think that's really cool. My chinese name is "凯八" because of the way I sometimes write "kate" in english as "k8"!

[@DakkogiRauru23]

If you know what your name means in your language you can use that to create a Chinese name

[@deusexrockina]

Mine is basically a mythical horse goddess name so my name would be Horse Queen. I like it 😂

[@christophermccord9629]

I would love to have a Chinese name!

[@nimisukunimi9249]

Wow, who are the people that will choose it?

[@rachelxuhe8044]

hahah I was laughing so hard on the "little name" part, my grand parents usually call us grand kids by our "little name", the names usually means doggy or puppy lol

[@Soso02Soso]

Great video! Really good and fun information about names! Just for curiosity, I'm Brazilian, and here sometimes they put their names on their son and grandsons. It's rare, but for example, in my family my uncle is called "Gilberto", and his son "Gilberto Filho" (filho means "son"), and Gilberto's grandson, which was born last year was named "Gilberto Neto" (Neto means "grandson")!

[@user-qm6wu4xb3d]

Hi guys! I'm Greek and this stupid thing about taking your grandmother's or grandfather's name is soooo true! Here are some examples: in an island, Karpathos, there are old people that will give their whole fortune to the grandchild that carries their name. It doesn't sound bad right? bad news: their names are really weird like Engelbert or Humpty Dumpty! Second example: when I was about to be baptized and be given a name the families of my parents had a huge fight about whether I would be called Constance or Angel, the names of my grandmothers ( both names are veeeerrrryyyyy common and have terrible short versions that sound like you come from an uncivilized part of the world and cannot ever read or write). My mother got furious and told my father "that's never gonna happen! we have to give our child a beautiful name to carry with pride for the rest of her life!" My father agreed and insisted on calling me " Clematis " (in Greek it's Agrambeli) which sounds like an old smelly lady that has offered herself to God! In the end, the priest refused the name my mother suggested because "It;s ancient Greek and not Christian" and baptised me with the name Constance-Angel. The next day my mother went to court and changed my name to "Myrsini-Angel" . A few years later my little brothers took their granfathers' names by "force" and although their first names are ancient greek and beautiful, everyone calls them with their christian-granfathers' names! Poor brothers... specially my youngest brother... he's Nikos. we have 7 cousins with the same first and second name... sad...

[@kn1t30wl]

I think this is the name my grandpa gave me 郭芳徽 (Quach Phuong Huy). It was very hard to get that name on a computer from google translate since i have a photo of it. And my little name, I think is 徽仔牛, apparently I was very naughty as a child and grandpa called me a Ox/Cow. Anyone here want to give a shot to what my name means? I know what my name sounds like in Cantonese but I have no idea what it means.

[@dominiqueritchey6795]

Well, from what I heard, being called a cow is like getting called "cool."

[@bobsmith2402]

芳means "sweet smell",徽means美好“beautiful and good”. You name is actually really awesome

[@pinkiedlamini7298]

I like they're play of knowledge 😂 it's funny but like "🤔 ohh yeah"

[@amytaljaardt2204]

I teach English to Chinese students. Some of the names are so strange, like I once had a student named "hide on Bush paul" I was like whuuuut

[@criskity]

In Taiwan, people often choose crazy names. Some I have seen are Phantom, DKNY, Batty, Puppy, Apple, Morningcard, Snoopy, u.Gar, and Kunt. There was one girl who used her Chinese name, but spelled it I-Yung Ho.

[@Jjcc-pm2ht]

CNVideos u forgot Apple, Watermelow, Debbie, Pippa. Or wutever tf girls in Taiwan thinks re cute. Lmao

[@Jessicurrrrrrrrr]

I am half taiwanese and j lived there for 4 years and I had a friend who's English name was purple

[@KevKevLP]

My name in japanese is Kenshin. In Chinese it's Qianxin.

[@KevKevLP]

謙信

[@xiaoyu1217]

I love your name!!😊

[@hamiltonakitaya95]

+けんしん 上杉？？

[@jevonspinocchio915]

+けんしん really good and elegant Chinese name！

[@macrick]

you watched too much anime?

[@othomile]

Same in my culture, names have meaning(literally) , a name is usually a word or sentence in a language that can be used even in daily talk of today or at least by previous generations

[@flux82able]

hahaha... u guys are so funny! "dong-dong"

[@tioco12]

I've been studying Chinese for 14 years and until now I don't know the meaning of my name 😂😂😂😂

[@deep125]

Tell us, we can figure it out!

[@tioco12]

+jingfeng pei 郑建民 this is my name

[@deep125]

Harvy Spectre wow, this name seems really old-school! Only my parents generation would have this name. 建民 literally means 'build and people', but in your case, it means 'develop( country) for the people'. This name was popular in 50s and 60s generation. Sorry :/

[@moussafiradil1700]

hahahahahaha bad luck xD whan about 陈松 ? i hope it's something more appropriate :s

[@tioco12]

Hahaha it's fine thanks for the translation

[@hmmmhmmm6917]

My dog's name is 东东 dong dong.

[@lahrence5059]

That's what I called my cousin lmao

[@rei_cirith]

There is such a thing as naming your kids sequentially in Chinese. All the kids in the family would have the same middle character if they were the first child, a different character if they were the second child and so on. It's also super cool that there's often "sib sets" as in the names of the kids in the family are related somehow.

[@MultipleUsers]

What I learn from taking Jhon wayne 101 is that all Chinse names or terms revolve around being happy and sunny or along those lines. Reason why the word 'cruel" turned into "cool". The other thing I learned about names the origin of long names. AKA "Fell down the well story" AKA cry wolf. Long names make it a hassle to deal with even if historical. I miss being in Chinese class. I messed up on the writing portion

[@kathyzhang740]

Born with a chinese and english name 凯西张 Zhang Kai Xi It's a direct translation to Kathy Zhang (Kathy means pure) :3 Little name is Xia Xia ("she-she") (Xia in watermelon)

[@charliehe983]

You mean XiXi西西？

[@EmilyKayCee]

That's what some of my relatives in the States did, too. They gave their kids/grandkids an easier pronounced Chinese name so non-Asians wouldn't screw it up so bad.... LOL

[@isalu1354]

U have modern Chinese parents then

[@frostare]

In Mexico we have two last names... so in english cultures the mother's last name disappears?

[@frostare]

***** Oh...

[@DominicanAries84]

***** Yeah for the most part. But some parents hyphenate their kids names so that they have both last names. In the Latin culture its normal for us to have 2 last names. I have two last names on my birth certificate but when I moved to the US when I was little my mother's last name was dropped from everything. I only use my dad's last name.

[@Weird_dude265]

***** Yup. Sometimes the mother gives her last name to her child as a middle name though.

[@grafiitti]

***** In my culture children automatically get their mother's last name (north europe/ finland). But most of the time when people get married, the bride changes her last name to her husbands name, so the whole family gets the father's name. BUUUUT if the child is born before the woman has changed her name, the baby gets her last name. And of course you can request another name for the baby from the authorities and it's no big deal :)

[@huyenly7603]

Double last names are becoming quite popular nowadays. But yeah...usually the kid to get only one last name.

[@TheMisschaotiic]

I'm Vietnamese (and yes, with the last name Nguyen...) I asked my mom the whole naming-after-parents thing and she said that you just don't do that, because when you yell/curse at your child then you're actually cursing at that relatives, too. Which is a no-go. It kinda makes sense, though when you think about it.

[@cboscari]

My daughter, Kumiko, is 1/4 Japanese. Her mom and I liked the name, and she was born in Denver, so the English spelling is on her birth certificate. Her grandmother did not like that one bit. She spent a few days coming up with variations of the names meaning in Kanji till she had one she was happy with. :) Your channel is great, I subscribed.

[@hawklee1983]

Giving a good Chinese name needs great knowledge! Name is just like a nexus connecting you and the the movement of the whole universe, it will deeply influence your fate. No joking here. Some fortune-teller with profound knowledge of Chinese names even could foresee your fate through your names!

[@jonson856]

in my family we have a family tree book where my name was decided like 1000years ago, at least the first of the 2 words. the scond word was decided by my father. and my future children will be named according to the family tree book as well i think. btw felicia looks like the asian version of jennifer lawrence xD

[@zhuochenw7028]

+Jeansen Wen That's so cool~ You must be from a big family because normal families like mine don't have a family tree book but I really want that. So like me and my sisters and brothers can have similar names with first 2 same chars and that is cool!

[@jonson856]

Zhuochen W everyone with the family name wen (温) is some what "related" to me xD w.g. wen jiabao and wen mingna haha. so yeah, quite the big family =P

[@zhuochenw7028]

My family name is Wu, should be pretty big right? I gotta ask my grandparents about family tree book someday...

[@ginagaladriel]

Also remember about the generational poem, one of the characters of the names follow the poem. And males get more names depending on their stage of life (Biaozi (表字) , Hao (號), Hui (諱), Zibei (字辈) also known as Banci 班次, etc)

[@danny7218]

Whats really amazing about Chinese names from what i've learned from my family is their complexity. For example a village carries one surname so everyone from that village have the same last name. Their "first name" is given by the parents, in poor villages many families are illiterate so they would actually find a word that they know how to write or is simple to remember and give it to their children. On the other hand the more complex the character or name it usually means that the family is wealthy and has a team of scholars and priests who advise the family on what name to give their children.

[@Lardman678]

Hmm, weird. I haven't heard that little name thing before. I'm more Thai than Chinese, and I have what I guess would be considered a Thai little name? Like all of my Thai relatives call me that, but it's not my name. I would consider it to be more of a nickname, but I think most kids have it.

[@minghansong2412]

Lardman678 Oh really? I dont have the thai equivalent, my Thai family members just call me in English, and my grandma just calls me "tall idiot"..... in thai...... and i can't remember the word for it.

[@MakeupByCupcake88]

I'm half Chinese and Thai and Italian, and Thai nickname is like nou. I have no idea but we all have that little nicknam

[@Lardman678]

Yeah like my legal name is Anawat, but all my family members call me Nong Un (if they're older) or Pi Un (if they're younger), so I assume it's probably derived from the same tradition as Chinese.

[@chalineekarawek8559]

Lardman678 In Thai, the parents do give their kids little names/nicknames. The word for it literally translates to "play name", I think? All of my family members do have little names/nicknames though. Mine is Fah.

[@Lardman678]

Chalinee ฟ้า Karawek Thanks.

[@SwetPotato]

I had 朕(first person pronoun of emperor) in my old name and then fengshui said it's bad to carry such big name so my parent decided to change....=. =LoL My old given name was 佳朕, a good emperor...Then it was changed to 亮棋. Bright chess...ugh,,,doesn't sound or feel good at all

[@wendyliu4775]

damn yeah fengshui believes such a 'big' name makes you live less long...折寿because your fate can't carry it...weird logic but yeah.

[@user-uf3zw9jt1o]

PassbyU 哈哈哈，很可爱

[@SEN_Brett]

2:46 🤣 I was named Brett after Brett farve

[@justgamer3817]

My brother and I both share the same middle name which is our father's first name and our cousin is named after his dad. Being named after someone in the family is a very common thing.