Chinese Name Generator
Chinese names in the correct family-name-first order, built from real Mandarin characters and shown in pinyin with the meaning each one carries.
168,130 combinations in this form
- Zhang Baoqian
Bao treasure + qian modest
treasure modest
Zhang to stretch
to stretch
- Zhu Yanying
Yan swallow + ying lustrous
swallow lustrous
Zhu vermilion
vermilion
- Ye Huiyue
Hui radiance + yue moon
radiance moon
Ye leaf
leaf
- Wang Lizhen
Li strength + zhen rouse
strength rouse
Wang king
king
- Jiang Yucai
Yu jade + cai colour
jade colour
Jiang river
river
- Li Ziying
Zi purple + ying lustrous
purple lustrous
Li plum
plum
- Li Feixing
Fei soaring + xing star
soaring star
Li plum
plum
- Guo Qiuzhi
Qiu autumn + zhi angelica
autumn angelica
Guo city wall
city wall
- Shi Huacheng
Hua splendid + cheng accomplish
splendid accomplish
Shi stone
stone
- Wang Chengjian
Cheng accomplish + jian establish
accomplish establish
Wang king
king
- Li Zhuting
Zhu pearl + ting comely
pearl comely
Li plum
plum
- Gao Huale
Hua splendid + le joy
splendid joy
Gao tall
tall
- Jin Shuhai
Shu tree + hai sea
tree sea
Jin gold
gold
- Li Ruijing
Rui flower bud + jing quiet
flower bud quiet
Li plum
plum
- Qian Ningbo
Ning tranquil + bo learned
tranquil learned
Qian coin
coin
- Lin Wenbo
Wen writing + bo learned
writing learned
Lin forest
forest
- Xia Fangdie
Fang fragrant + die butterfly
fragrant butterfly
Xia summer
summer
- Bai Zhousen
Zhou boat + sen woods
boat woods
Bai white
white
- Yang Hefei
He harmony + fei soaring
harmony soaring
Yang poplar
poplar
- Yang Cairui
Cai colour + rui flower bud
colour flower bud
Yang poplar
poplar
- Xia Shuyun
Shu tree + yun cloud
tree cloud
Xia summer
summer
- Tian Renyi
Ren benevolence + yi righteous
benevolence righteous
Tian field
field
- Shi Lecai
Le joy + cai colour
joy colour
Shi stone
stone
- Bai Kangyuan
Kang healthy + yuan origin
healthy origin
Bai white
white
How Chinese names are built
¶A Chinese name puts the family name first and the given name second: in Wang Wei, Wang is the surname and Wei the given name. The given name is one or two characters, and every character is an ordinary word with an ordinary meaning. Wei is great, ming is bright, li is beautiful, jun is army, hua is splendid, xin is heart. Parents choose those words deliberately, which is why a Chinese name can be read as well as pronounced.
Two-character given names are the common shape, and the pair is read as a phrase. Wei plus ming gives Weiming, great and bright; jian plus guo gives Jianguo, build the country, a name that dates a man to the 1950s as clearly as a birth certificate would. Many families also fix one character for a whole generation, so brothers and cousins share a syllable and the second character is the one that varies.
Surnames are a short, ancient list. About a hundred names cover most of the population, which is why Wang, Li, Zhang, Liu and Chen alone account for hundreds of millions of people. They are single characters and they are not descriptive of the bearer: Wang is king, Li is plum, Lin is forest, Ma is horse, Yang is poplar. Many of the rest are the names of ancient states and fiefs, so Zhao, Wu, Zhou and Zheng cannot honestly be translated at all, and this generator offers only the surnames whose character carries a plain meaning. Because the surname is fixed, short and always first, the expressive work all falls to the given name.
Questions
What are common Chinese surnames?
Wang, Li, Zhang, Liu, Chen, Yang, Huang, Zhao, Wu and Zhou head every list, and the first five cover a striking share of the population. Each is a single character with a plain meaning: Wang is king, Li is plum, Lin is forest, Ma is horse, Yang is poplar, Shi is stone. The surname is written and spoken first, before the given name.
Is the family name first in Chinese?
Yes. Chinese order is surname then given name, so the basketball player known in English as Yao Ming has the family name Yao. English-language sources sometimes flip the order to match Western habit, which is where the confusion comes from. This generator prints the family name first, in front of the given name, the way a Chinese name is actually written.
Are Chinese given names male or female?
Most characters lean one way without being fixed. Strength, ambition and martial words such as wei, jun, gang and yong read as masculine; flowers, jade, gentleness and light read as feminine, so li, mei, xue and juan are usually women's names. A large middle ground of nature and virtue characters, including ming, an, yun and jing, is used for anyone.
What do Chinese names mean?
Each character means something on its own and the pair is read together. Xiaolong is little dragon, Meiling is beautiful jade chime, Jianguo is build the country. There is no separate stock of name-words as there is in English: the same characters appear in ordinary sentences, which is why a Chinese speaker hears the meaning of a name immediately.
How do I choose a Chinese name for a character?
Decide what the name should say and pick the character that says it, then add a second character that reads well after it. Avoid stacking two characters with the same tone or the same initial. Read the whole thing aloud with the surname in front, since the surname is spoken first and that three-syllable string is what people will hear.