Chinese style name

A Chinese style name, sometimes also known as a courtesy name , is a given name to be used later in life. After 20 years of age, the ''zì'' is assigned in place of one's given name as a symbol of adulthood and respect. Primarily used for male names, one could be given a ''zì'' by the parents, or adopt a self chosen ''zì'' later. The tradition of using style names has been fading away since the May Fourth Movement. There are two common forms of style name, the ''zì'' and the ''hào''.

''Zì''

The ''zì'', sometimes called the ''biǎozì'' or 'courtesy name', is a name traditionally given to Chinese males at the age of 20, marking their coming of age. It was sometimes given to females upon marriage. As noted above, the practice is no longer common in modern Chinese society. According to the ''Book of Rites'' , after a man reaches adulthood, it is disrespectful for others of the same generation to address him by his given name, or ''míng''. Thus, the given name was reserved for oneself and one's elders, while the zì would be used by adults of the same generation to refer to one another on formal occasions or in writing; hence the term 'courtesy name'.

The ''zì'' is mostly disyllabic, i.e., comprises two , and is usually based on the meaning of the ''míng'' or . Yan Zhitui of the Northern Qi Dynasty believed that while the purpose of the ''míng'' was to distinguish one person from another, the ''zì'' should express the bearer's moral integrity.

The relation which often exists between a person's ''zì'' and his ''míng'' can be seen in the case of Mao Zedong , whose ''zì'' was Rùnzhī (. These two characters share the same - 氵, which signifies water. Both characters can mean 'to benefit' or 'to nourish'.

Another way to form a ''zì'' is to use the homophonic character ''zǐ'' - a respectful title for a male - as the first character of the disyllabic ''zì''. Thus, for example, Gongsun Qiao's ''zì'' was: Zǐchǎn (, and Du Fu's: Zǐméi .

It is also common to construct a ''zì'' by using as the first character one which expresses the bearer's birth order among male siblings in his family. Thus Confucius, whose actual name was Kǒng Qiū , was given the ''zì'' Zhòngní , where the first character ''zhòng'' indicates that he was the second son in his family. The characters commonly used are bó for the first, zhòng for the second, shū for the third, and jì typically for the youngest, if the family consists of more than three sons.

The use of ''zì'' began sometime during the Shang Dynasty and slowly developed into a system, which became most widespread during the succeeding Zhou Dynasty . During this period, women were also given ''zì''. The ''zì'' given to a woman was generally composed of a character indicating her birth order among females siblings and her surname. For example, Mèng Jiāng was the eldest daughter in the Jiāng family.

Prior to the 20th century, sinicized Koreans, Vietnamese, and Japanese were also referred to by their ''zì''.

The ''zì'' of some famous people:

''Hào''

''Hào'' is an alternative courtesy name, usually referred to as the ''pseudonym''. It was most commonly three or four characters long, and may have originally become popular due to people having the same ''zì''. A ''hào'' was usually self-selected and it was possible to have more than one. It had no connection with the bearer's ''míng'' or ''zì''; rather it was often a very personal, sometimes whimsical, choice perhaps embodying an allusion or containing a rare character, as might befit an educated literatus. Another possibility was to use the name of one's residence as one's ''hào''; thus Su Shi's ''hào'' Dongpo Jushi . An author's ''hào'' was also often used in the title of his collected works.

Chinese pet name

In Chinese communities, people choose Chinese pet names often based on the pet's physical characteristics. The adjective "little" is added in front of the physical characteristic, creating an effect equivalent to adding "little" to "John" resulting in "Little John" or "Johnny." See the following table for common Chinese pet names.

Chinese name

Personal names in follow a number of conventions different from those of personal names in Western cultures. Most noticeably, a Chinese name is written with the family name first and the given name next, therefore "John Smith" as a Chinese name would be "Smith John". For instance, the basketball player who is commonly called Yao Ming would be addressed as "Mr. Yao", not "Mr. Ming".

Some Chinese people who emigrate to, or do business with, Western countries sometimes adopt a Westernized name by simply reversing the "surname–given-name" order to "given-name–surname" , or with a Western first name together with their surname, which is then written in the usual Western order with the surname last . Some Chinese people sometimes take a combined name. There are 3 variations: Western name, surname, and Chinese given name, in that order . Western name, Chinese given name, and surname . Or surname, Chinese given name, followed by Western name . The Western name, surname and then given name practice is most common in Hong Kong and Singapore.

Traditional naming schemes often followed a pattern of using generation names as part of a two-character given name. This is by no means the norm, however. An alternative tradition, stemming from a Han Dynasty law that forbade two-character given names, is to have a single character given name. Some contemporary given names do not follow either tradition, and may in some cases extend to three or more characters.

When generation names are used as part of a two-character given name, it is highly inappropriate and confusing to refer to someone by the first part of their given name only which will generally be their generation name. Instead, the entire given name should be used. This should be the case regardless of whether the surname is used. For instance, referring to Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong as Hsien or Hsien Lee would be confusing as this could just as easily refer to his brother. However, this does commonly occur in Western societies where the first part of the given name is frequently mistakenly used as the first name when the given name is not hyphenated or adjoined.

Family names

A majority of countries in Eastern Asia adopted the Chinese naming system. Today, there are over 700 different Chinese family names, but as few as twenty cover a majority of Chinese people. The variety in Chinese names therefore depends greatly on given names rather than family names. The great majority of Chinese family names have only one , but there are a few with two; see Chinese compound surname for more information.

Chinese family names are written first, something which often causes confusion among those from cultures where the family name usually comes last. Thus, the family name of Mao Zedong is Mao , and his given name is Zedong .

Chinese women on the mainland usually retain their maiden names as their family name, rather than adopting their husband's. Children usually inherit the father's family name. However, there is the practice of married women taking on the husband's surname as part of their full-name.

Historically, it was considered taboo to marry someone with the same family name — even if there is no direct relationship between those concerned--though in recent decades this has no longer been frowned upon.

Given names

Generally speaking, Chinese given names have one or two , and are written after the family name. When a baby is born, parents often give him or her a "milk name" or "little name," such as ''Little Gem'' or two characters that repeat . The given name is then usually chosen later and is often chosen with consultation of the grandparents. In China, parents have a month before having to register the child. The parents may continue to use the nickname.

With a limited repertoire of family names, Chinese depend on using given names to introduce variety in naming. Almost any character with any meaning can be used. However, it is not considered appropriate to name a child after a famous figure and highly offensive after an older member among the family or even distant relatives.

Given names resonant of qualities which are perceived to be either masculine or feminine are frequently given, with males being linked with strength and firmness, and females with beauty and flowers. Females sometimes have names which repeat a character, for example Xiuxiu or Lili . This is less common in males, although Yo-yo Ma is a well-known exception.

In some families, one of the two characters in the personal name is shared by all members of a generation and these generational names are worked out long in advance, historically in a ''generation poem'' listing the names. Also, siblings' names are frequently related, for example, a boy may be named ''pine'' while his sister may be named ''plum'' , both being primary elements of the traditional Chinese system of naturally symbolizing moral imperatives. Depending on region and family, female children may not be entered into the family tree, and thus will not be given a generation name. A frequent naming pattern for female offspring in this case could share the same last character in the given name while varying the first character . A well known example of such system can be found from the names of the main four sisters in the novel "A Dream of Red Mansions" 红楼梦, where they were named 元春，迎春，探春 and 惜春 .

Chinese personal names also may reflect periods of . For example, many Chinese born during the Cultural Revolution have "revolutionary names" such as ''strong country'' or ''eastern wind'' . In Taiwan, it used to be common to incorporate one of the four characters of the name "Republic of China" into masculine names.

People from the rural areas may have "rural" names due to their uneducated parents, for example, ''large ox'' and ''big pillar'' , though, these names are much less common today.

Also, some decades ago, due to the traditional Confucianism, when a family gives birth to a female baby, the parents may name her ''comes a little brother'' , ''invites a little brother'' or ''hopes for a little brother'' . Some other female names of this sort includes: 望弟 , 牽弟 , 帶弟 , 引弟 , 領弟 , and even 也好 . The parents may feminize the character '弟' to '娣' with the same pronunciation, but different in meaning . These names show the traditional sexism or male chauvinism in the older Chinese society where having a boy is better than having a girl .

A recent trend has swept through greater China to let fortune tellers change people's names years after they have been given. These fortune tellers claim that the name leads to a better future in the child according to principles such as .

Regional variations

Taiwan

Family names in Taiwan of the Han Chinese heritage are similar to those in southeast China, as most families maintain family trees that are traceable to their origins in places such as Fujian and Guangdong. Taiwanese aborigines have also adopted Chinese names in the process of . The popularity distribution of family names in Taiwan as a whole differs somewhat from the distribution of names among all Han Chinese, with the family name Chen particularly common . Local variations also exist.

The top ten most frequent family names in Taiwan, ranking in China, and common romanizations.



Among the Taiwanese , the family name 偕 is of particular interest as an example of a Chinese-like surname with a non-Chinese . According to the clan's tradition, the name was adopted to honor the missionary George Leslie Mackay, also known as Má-kai . This family name is actually rarely seen even among Christians. Taiwanese Christians of other sects do not carry this tradition.



Given names that consist of one character are much less common on Taiwan than in mainland China.

More common in the past when life was much more difficult, Taiwanese given names are sometimes unofficially re-assigned based on the recommendation of fortune-tellers, in order to ward off bad omens and evil spirits. For example, a sick boy may be renamed "Ti-sái" , or " Manure", to indicate to the evil spirits that he is not worth their trouble. Similarly, a girl from a poor family may have the name "Bóng-chhī" , or translated loosely, "Keeping Only Reluctantly".

Nicknames derives from the practice common to Fujian of being constructed by attaching the prefix "A-" to the last syllable. Unlike the situation in Mainland China, this construction is used for Hakka names as well. Nicknames are often used by friends to refer to each other, but are rarely used in formal contexts. However, one major exception to this is Chen Shui-bian who refers to himself as A-pí?--a in public, which appears endearing to his supporters. The use of nicknames in public contexts is however unusual, and very few other public figures are known by their nicknames.

Examples of names of prominent Taiwanese born in Taiwan, mostly after World War II.
* One-character family name + two-character given name
** 王永慶 ＝ 王 ＋ 永慶
** 陳長文 ＝ 陳 ＋ 長文
** 張榮發 ＝ 張 ＋ 榮發
** 林懷民 ＝ 林 ＋ 懷民
** 古金水 ＝ 古 ＋ 金水
* One-character family name + one-character given name
** 蔡琴 ＝ 蔡 ＋ 琴
** 蕭薔 ＝ 蕭 ＋ 薔
* Two-character family name + one- or two-character given name
** 歐陽龍 ＝ 歐陽 ＋ 龍
** 司徒達賢 ＝ 司徒 ＋ 達賢
* Compound family name + one- or two-character given name
** 鄭余鎮 ＝ 鄭 ? 余 ＋ 鎮
** 郭李建夫 ＝ 郭 ? 李 ＋ 建夫
* Husband's family name + one-character family name + two-character given name
** 錢林慧君 ＝ 錢 ＋ 林 ＋ 慧君

Diaspora

Among Chinese Americans, it is common practice to be referred to primarily by the Western name and to use the Chinese given name as a middle name; for instance, Soong would have "James Chu-yu Soong". In a more recent effort to combine Western names for those with native Chinese names, the Western name is placed directly in front of the Chinese name so that both the Chinese and Western names can be easily identified. The relative order of family name-given name is also preserved. Using this scheme, Soong Chu-yu would be James Soong Chu-yu.

In Malaysia and Singapore, it is equally acceptable for Western names to appear before or after the Chinese given name, thus Tan Keng Yam Tony may also be written as Tony Tan Keng Yam, and individuals are free to indicate their official names in either format on their s. General usage tend to prefer placing the Western name first due to the popularity of referring to individuals simply as "Tony Tan" and dropping the given Chinese name entirely. For administrative purposes, however, tend to place the Western name behind so as to standardise namelists sorted by family names. In some cases, therefore, agencies may choose to include a behind the Chinese name to indicate such amendments made, for instance, "Tan Keng Yam, Tony".

The Hong Kong printed media tends to adopt a presentation style similar to American usage, for instance, Donald Tsang Yam-kuen. On official records such as the Hong Kong , however, family names are always printed first, capitalised, and followed with a comma for all names, including non-Chinese names. Therefore the name would be printed as either TSANG, Yam Kuen Donald or TSANG, Donald Yam Kuen, according to the person's, or the person's parents' own preference at time of application. A non-Chinese name would be printed in the style of "BUSH, George Walker". Some people do not have the transliterations of their Chinese given names in their names in English record, such as Henry Lee or Peter Vincent Cheng. In Macau, ethnic Chinese individuals who have Portuguese given names may have their names written in the Portuguese name order, such as Carlos do Rosário Tchiang.

The use of a comma between a surname and given name is acceptable if the name is in isolation , but not as part of a sentence. For example, the sentence "My student Wang, Ming-Sheng graduated in 2006" would be wrong.

Romanization

In mainland China, Han names are romanized in pinyin, usually without tone marks. Chinese from Mainland China are generally recognizable from the "x", "zh" and "q" that exist in Hanyu Pinyin orthography, and by the combination of the two syllables in a two character given name into one romanized word .

In Taiwan, the vast majority of Taiwanese today romanize their names in pronunciation using Wades-Giles or a similar system, which can be easily distinguished from the Hanyu Pinyin used for romanization in Mainland China and Singapore by the lack of the use of "q", "zh", and "x", by the use of "hs" and by the inclusion of hyphens. Unlike Mainland China, romanization of names in Taiwan is not standardized and one can often find idiosyncratic variants such as Lee or Soong, and others.

Chinese in southeast Asia, Hong Kong, Macau, and other old diaspora communities are likely to romanize in their own dialect, such as "吳" becomes Ng in languages such as Cantonese, while the same character would be Wu in Mandarin. In particular, , Min Nan, Hakka are prevalent. Although not a Chinese dialect, in Vietnam romanize their names in Vietnamese pronunciation using , making them almost indistinguishable from Vietnamese names. In Singapore, individuals, or their parents, are free to choose to romanize their Chinese names in Mandarin, in any Chinese dialect, or in any other form as deemed fit. In general, however, the romanized name in dialect and in Mandarin are both depicted on the person's NRIC, unless the bearer chooses to drop either of them. In Macau, Chinese names are usually based on Portuguese orthography.

Chinese from diaspora communities in Malaysia and Singapore can also be identified by the inclusion of spaces in their first names, as well.

Alternative names

;Nicknames :Milk name and ?Caricatural name?
Nicknames are usually an alteration of the given name. There are two kinds of nicknames, one given by biologic parents to a baby, and one give by the family or a child's friends to another child . The first is a nice little nickname, to call a baby or children, often simply made by doubling one character of the official name , or even their first word. The second one is a caricatural name based on the person's physical attributes, speaking style . A nickname may consist of the prefix ''ā'' or the diminutive prefix ''xiǎo'' , followed by part of the given name . The prefix ''ā'' is more commonly found in the southern regions of China than in the north where the prefix ''xi?o'' is more common. Nicknames are rarely used in formal or semi-formal settings. One exception to this is Chen Shui-bian, who is commonly known as A-bian even by himself and in newspaper articles.

;School name
The School name is the name that a child takes to go to school. Teachers and classmates had to call the child with this formal name. Friends prefer to use the official given name or the caricatural name.

;Courtesy names and Pseudonyms
In former times, it was common for educated males to acquire . The two most common forms were a ''zì'' , given upon reaching maturity, and a ''hào'' , usually self-selected and often somewhat whimsical. Although this tradition has lapsed, authors' use of pen names is still a common phenomenon. ''For more information, see Chinese style name.''

;Posthumous name and Temple name
For prominent people, posthumous names have often been given, although this is uncommon now. Sun Yat-sen was given the posthumous name of Guófù , the name by which he is most frequently known in Taiwan. Emperors were also ascribed temple names , and in certain situations, an Era name as well.

;Era name
The era name can sometimes be use in ways which refer to the monarch himself, and not to the period.

Forms of address

Within families, adults are rarely referred to by their given names. Rather, the relationship is stressed, so each member is known by this connection. Thus, there is big sister, second sister, third sister and so on. These connections are also distinguished by what side of the family they are on. Generally speaking though, the family title is only used when the relative being called is older than caller. It is considered highly inappropriate and sometimes extremely offensive if a person from a younger generation calls someone from an older generation by his/her given name. Younger relatives are normally only called by their relational title in formal situations. Children can be called by their given name, or their parents may use their nickname.

When speaking of non-family social acquaintances, people are generally referred to by a title, for example Mother Li or Mrs. Zhu . Personal names are used when referring to adult friends or to children, although, unlike in the west, referring to somebody by their full name is common even among friends, especially if the person's full name is only two syllables. It is common to refer to a person as ''l?o'' or ''xi?o'' followed by their family name, thus L?o Wáng or Xi?o Zhāng . Xi?o is also frequently used as a diminutive, when it is typically paired with the second or only character in a person's name, rather than the surname. Note that because old people are well respected in Chinese society, ''l?o'' does not carry disrespect, offense or any negative implications even if it's used to refer to an older woman. Despite this, it is advisable for non-Chinese to avoid calling a person xi?o-something or l?o-something unless they are so-called by other Chinese people and it is clear that the appellation is acceptable and widely used. Otherwise, the use of the person's full name, or alternatively, their surname followed by xiānshēng or nǚshì is relatively neutral and unlikely to cause offence.

Whereas titles in many cultures are commonly solely determined by gender and, in some cases, marital status, the occupation or even work title of a person can be used as a title as a sign of respect in common address in Chinese culture. Because of the prestigious position of a teacher in traditional culture, a teacher is invariably addressed as such by his or her students , and commonly by others as a mark of respect. By extension, a junior or less experienced member of a work place or profession would address a more senior member as "Teacher".

Similarly, engineers are often addressed as such, though often shortend to simply the first character of the word "engineer" -- . Should the person being addressed be the head of a company , one might equally address them by the title "z?ng" , which means "general" or "overall", and is the first character of titles such as "Director General" or "General Manager" , or, if they are slightly lower down on the corporate food-chain but nonetheless a manager, by affixing Jīngl? .

Chinese given name

Chinese given names are often made up of one or two s. Unlike Western personal names, there is great variety in assigning Chinese given names. Chinese names can consist of any character and contain almost any meaning. Unlike the Western convention, it is extremely frowned upon to name a person after someone else, and cases where people have the same name are almost universally the result of coincidence rather than intention. The common Western practice of naming the children after their parents, ancestors, or historical figures is almost a taboo in Chinese culture .

In some families, the first of the two characters in the personal name is shared by all members of a generation and these generation names are worked out long in advance. In some families there is a small number of generational names through which are cycled. Together, these generation names may be a poem about the hope or history of the family.
There are also other conventions. It is frequently the case that girls will be given names which reflect "" characteristics or be named after plants or flowers.

Chinese females sometimes have doubled names . This practice also extends to males , but much less so. Siblings' names are frequently related. For example, one child may be named "sun" while his sister may be named "moon." It is also common to split a Chinese "word" like 健康 , and have one child given the name 健， and the other 康.

Chinese personal names also reflect periods of history. Chinese names often do not just represent the environment or the time. For example, many Chinese born during the Cultural Revolution have ''revolutionary names'' such as ''strong country'' or ''eastern wind'' . In Taiwan, it used to be common to incorporate one of the four characters of the name "Republic of China" into masculine names.

Within families, adults rarely refer to each other by personal names. Adult relatives and children referring to adults generally use a family title such as big sister, second sister, third sister and so on. As is the case in the West, it is considered rude for a child to refer to parents by their given name, but unlike the West this taboo is extended to all adult relatives.

When speaking of non-family social acquaintances people are generally referred to by a title . Personal names are used when referring to adult friends or to children. Occasionally a person will be referred to as l?o followed by the last name or xi?o followed by the last name.

Most Chinese also have a "little name" or nickname which their parents and close family and friends call them. These names are generally not used by anyone outside this close circle.

Nicknames are usually alteration of the given name, sometimes they are based on the persons' physical attributes, speaking style or even their first word. In - and -speaking areas, a nickname will often consist of the diminutive Ah, followed by part of the given name . The nicknames are rarely used in formal or semi-formal settings. One exception to this is Chen Shui-bian who is commonly known as A-bian even in more formal settings such as newspaper articles.

In former times, it was common for males to acquire a '''', or style name, upon reaching maturity, and for prominent people to have posthumous names, and rulers temple names. This is rarely the case now, although Chinese writers will frequently take a pen name.

Many coastal Chinese have a Western name in addition to the Chinese name. For example, the Taiwanese politician Soong Chu-yu is also known as James Soong. Among American-born Chinese, Canadian-born Chinese, etc., it is common practice to be referred to primarily by the Western name, and the Chinese name is used either as an alternative name, or sometimes, middle name. Recent immigrants tend to use their given Chinese name as the legal name and adopting a Western Given name for casual use only.

In Hong Kong and Macau, some people may have their Chinese given names related to the pronunciation or meaning of their English given names, while many in Taiwan will choose their adoptive English name based on their Chinese given name.

In regions where fortune-telling is more popular, many parents may name their children on the advice of . The advice are often given based on the number of strokes of the names or the perceived elemental value of the characters in relation to the child's birth time and personal elemental value; rarely on the sound of the name as there is no system of fortune-telling based on character pronunciations. In jurisdictions where it is possible, people may also choose to change their legal given name, or their children's names, in order to improve their fortune.

Due to varying cultural backgrounds and regional dialects, some names may sound silly and hilarious when spoken in a different community and dialect, although it is considered rude to tease a person's name in such a way.

Some common names include:
* Male -
**''Wei''
**''Hao''
**''Dong''
**''Ming''
**''Tao''
**''Zhuang''
* Female -
**''Ying''
**''Ping''
**''Xue''

Bo (surname)

Bo is a Chinese surname and Bo is an Italian_name also.

Its Pinyin translitteration is bó.

The character stands for :
* A qualificative verb meaning ''to be thin'', ''to be small'', ''to be light''
* A qualificative verb meaning ''to be ungenerous'', ''to be unlikeable''
* A verb meaning ''to disdain'', ''to scorn'', ''to overlook''
* A verb meaning ''to come close to'', ''to be about to''

People

* Empress Dowager Bo of the Han Dynasty
* of the Han Dynasty
* Bo Xilai , CPC Chongqing Committee Secretary
* Bo Yibo , Chinese politician
* Carlo Bo , Italian politician and IULM foundator

Bai (surname)

Bai is a common Chinese surname, mostly found in the Mongolia region. With its variants, Bai was ranked 79th within the list of common Chinese surnames in 2006, up from 70th in 1990.

Another surname, , is written with a character normally also pronounced as "Bai", but as a surname is properly pronounced "Bo", according to the ancient reading of the character.

Alternate spellings

* : Bái
* : Baak6, Pak
* Min Nan : Pe?h, Pe?k, Peh
* : B?ch
* : Bae, Baek , Pae
* : Haku, Hyaku, Byaku

People

* Bai Qi , Qin general of the Warring States Period
* Bai Juyi , Tang Dynasty poet
* Bai Renfu , Yuan Dynasty playwright
* Bai Chongxi , general of the Republic of China
* Pai Hsien-yung , Chinese writer
* Lou Pai , Chinese-American businessman and former Enron executive
* Pai Kun-Hong , Taiwanese baseball player
* Pai Hsiao-yen , Taiwanese teenage idol and victim of a fatal kidnapping

Temple name

Temple names are commonly used when naming most , , and Vietnamese royalty. They should not be confused with era names. Compared to posthumous names, the use of temple names is more exclusive. Both titles were given after death to an emperor or king, but unlike the often elaborate posthumous name, a temple name always consists of only two s:

# an adjective: chosen to reflect the circumstances of the emperor's reign . The vocabulary overlap with that of posthumous titles' adjectives, but for one emperor, the temple name's adjective character usually does not repeat as one of the many adjective characters in his posthumous name. The usual exception is "Filial". The founders are almost always either "High" or "Grand" .
# "emperor": either ''zǔ'' or ''zōng'' .
#* ''Zu'' implies a progenitor, either a founder of a dynasty or a new line within an existing one. The equivalent in is ''jo'' , and ''t?'' in Vietnamese
#* ''Zong'' is used in all other rulers. It is ''jong'' in Korean, and ''t?ng'' in Vietnamese.

The name "temple" refers to the "grand temple" , also called "great temple" or "ancestral temple" , where crown princes and other royalties gathered to worship their ancestors. On the ancestral tablets in the grand temple, it is the ruler's temple names that are written there.

Temple names were assigned sporadically since the Han Dynasty and regularly only since the Tang Dynasty. Some Han emperors even had their temple names permanently removed by their descendants in 190. It is the usual way to refer to the emperors from the Tang Dynasty up to the Ming Dynasty. For the Ming Dynasty and Qing Dynasty , era names were used instead.

In Korea, temple names are used to refer to kings of the early Goryeo , and kings and emperors of the Joseon Dynasty. For the Korean Empire , era names should be used, but the temple names are often used instead.

In Vietnam, most rulers are known by their temple names, with the exception of the and Dynasties, who are known by their era names.

Posthumous name

A posthumous name is an honorary name given to royalty, nobles, and sometimes others, in some cultures after the person's death. The posthumous name is commonly used when naming royalty of , , Vietnam and .

Posthumous names in China and Vietnam were also given to honor lifetime accomplishments of many people who did not have hereditary titles, for example to successful courtiers.

In the tradition, an emperor is now regularly given a posthumous name that corresponds to the name of his reign. A non-royal deceased may be given a posthumous Buddhist name known as ''kaimyo'', but is in practice still referred to by the living name.

A posthumous name should not be confused with the era name and temple name.

History

Having their origins in the Chinese Zhou Dynasty, posthumous names were used 800 years earlier than temple names. The first person named posthumously was Ji Chang, named by his son Ji Fa of Zhou, as the "Civil King". The use of posthumous names was stopped in the Qin Dynasty, because Qin Shi Huang proclaimed that it is disrespectful for the descendants, or "later emperors" to judge their elders, or the "prior emperors" . The practice was revived in the Han Dynasty after the demise of the Qin Empire.

Chinese emperors

All Chinese posthumous names for rulers end in one or two of the for "", ''Huángdì'' , which can be shortened to ''Dì''; except about a dozen or so less recognized ones who have had only ''Dì'' and no ''Huáng''.

Starting with Emperor , every single Han emperor, except the first one of the Eastern Han Dynasty, has the character of "" at the beginning of his posthumous names. "Filial" is also used in the full posthumous names of virtually all emperors of the , , and Dynasties. For Qing emperors, 孝 xiào is placed in various position in the string of characters, while those Qing empresses who were given posthumous names, 孝 xiào is always initial.

The number of characters in posthumous names was increasing. The emperors of the Tang Dynasty have names in between seven to eighteen characters. Those in the Qing Dynasty have twenty-one characters. For instance, that of the Shunzhi Emperor was "The Emperor of Order who Observes the Heavenly Rituals with a Solemn Fate, Destined to Unify, Establishes with Extreme Talented Insights, Admires the Arts, Manifests the Might, with Great Virtue and Vast Achievement, Reaches Humanity, Purely Filial" .

The woman with the longest posthumous name is Empress Cixi, who is "The Empress who is Admirably Filial, Initiates Kindness, with Blessed Health, Manifests Much Contentment, Solemn Sincerity, with Longevity, Provides Admiration Prosperously, Reveal Adoration, Prosperous with a Merry Heaven, with a Holy Appearance" .

Posthumous names can be praises or deprecations . There are more praises than depreciations, so posthumous names are also commonly called ''respectful name'' in Chinese. Sima Qian's ''Records of the Grand Historian'' outlines extensively the rules behind choosing the names. Some of those guidelines:

* Praises
** Those having a persistent and reasonable governance are called "Martial" .
** Those who sympathize with the people and recognize their needs are called "Civil" .
** Those who respect the talented and value righteousness are called "Reverent" .
** Those who are kind and benevolent in nature are called "Benign" .
** Those who aid the people out of righteousness are called "Admirable" .
** Those who treat the people compassionately with a gentle quality are called "Compassionate" .
** Those who eliminate destructions and purge cruelty are called "Tang" .
** Those who make the people feel satisfied with their policies are called "Constructive" .
** Those who are considerate and far-sighted are called "Brilliant" .
** Those who preach their virtue and righteousness to the people are called "Majestic" .
** Those who are aggressive to expand their realm are called "Exploratory" .
** "High" is particularly reserved for the founders of dynasties.

* Deprecations
** Those who lived short lives without much accomplishment are called "Passed Away Prematurely" .
** Those who have a constant twinge of during their governance are called "Pitiful" .
** Those who lose their spouses and pass away at their early age are called "Lamentable" .
** Those who are obliged to make sacrifices to their ancestors are called "Mournful" .

However, most of these qualifications are subjective, repetitive, and highly stereotypical; hence the names are chosen somewhat arbitrarily. Such names are usually given by court historians, according to their good deeds or the bad ones.

Japanese emperors

The posthumous names of Japanese emperors are called ''teigō'' . In addition to the appellation ''Ten'nō'' that is a part of all Japanese emperors' posthumous name, most consist of two kanji characters, although a few consist of three. Some names are given several generations later—this is the case for Emperor Jimmu and Emperor Antoku, for example. Others are given immediately after death, like that of Emperor Mommu.

Many have Chinese-style names, for example:
* Emperor Jimmu
* Emperor Nintoku
* Emperor ?jin

Some have Japanese-style names. For example:
* those who were named after the place where the emperor was born, lived or frequented:
** Emperor Saga , named after a palace
** , named after an official residence
** Emperor Kōmyō , named after a temple
** Emperor Higashiyama , named after a hill
* those who were named after an emperor whose admirable characteristics resemble those of an earlier one by adding ''Go'' as a prefix to the earlier emperor's name:
**
** Emperor Go-Daigo
** Empress Go-Sakuramachi
* those who were named by combining the characters from two previous emperors' names:
** + =
** + =

Since the death of Emperor Meiji in 1912, the posthumous name of an emperor has always been the name of his . For example, after his death Hirohito was formally renamed Emperor Shōwa after ; Japanese now refer to him by only that name. ''Hirohito'' was his given name, but most Japanese never refer to their emperors by their given names, as it is considered derogatory in etiquette.

Korean kings

Although Korean kings had elaborate posthumous names, they are usually referred to by their temple names today.

Officials

It was also common for persons with no hereditary titles, especially accomplished scholar-officials or ministers, to be given posthumous names by the imperial court. The characters used are mostly the same ones used for emperors, with the same denotations as described above. The length, however, was restricted to one or two characters. See List of Posthumous Names for examples.

Confucius has been given long posthumous names in almost every major dynasty. One of the most commonly used was Zhìshèngxiānshī 至聖先師.

Sometimes a person is given a posthumous name not by the court, but by his own family or disciples. Such names are private posthumous names . For example, Tao Qian was given ''Sishi'' Jìngjié 靖節.

Miscellaneous

To combine an emperor's temple name and posthumous name, place temple first.

A fuller description of this naming convention for royalty appears in the Chinese sovereign entry.

Manchu given name

Manchu given names were used solely or with titles but not with clan names. For example, Fiyanggū, who was from the Donggo clan, belonged to the Manchu Plain White Banner and distinguished himself in the campaigns against the Dzungars, was usually called "Fiyanggū be" since Fiyanggū was a relatively major given name. Unlike Chinese and Europeans, he was not to be called by combination of family name and given name, i.e. Donggo Fiyanggū or Fiyanggū Donggo. Although we can find Aisin-Gioro Ulhicun and other figures, but it is a very modern practice. To specify the clan name, Manchus would have said something like "Donggo hala-i Fiyanggū" .

The Manchus had an immense variety of given names. For most of them, it is difficult to find the meanings. Some scholars try to categorize them. Erich Haenisch classified them into sixteen categories including animals , plants , qualities , etc. Ch'en Chieh-hsien classified Manchu personal names in seven main categories. But there are many names that are not included in either categorization.

Some Manchu names seem nothing more than partial phonetic alternation of other ones. For example, the names of brothers of a clan were Ulu?un, Hūlu?un, Ilu?un, Delu?un, Fulu?un and Jalu?un in order of age, where only the initial syllables are changed. Another example is Nurhaci. His brothers were ?urgaci and Murhaci.

Like other non-Chinese terms, Manchu names are often transcribed into Chinese in a chaotic pattern since they were taken from Chinese sources. It is difficult to reconstruct original Manchu spellings from their Chinese transcription. Sometimes the first syllable of a Manchu given name is misinterpreted as a Chinese surname. For instance, the Manchu official Tuli?en, who wrote , is mistaken for a Chinese man named "Tu Lishen."

During the Qing Dynasty, the Manchus gradually adopted two-character Chinese given names , and used Manchu transcription of them. We can find a tendency to leave a space between two syllables of the name of an exalted personage in the Manchu script and to stick them together for common people. For example, the real name of the Qianlong Emperor was ''Hung li'', which was derived from the Chinese name Hongli . Certain combinations of Chinese sounds that never appeared at native Manchu terms make it difficult to determine syllable boundaries. The Manchus introduced what is called "Mongolian Sibe Syllable Boundary Marker" in Unicode. As the name says, it is formalized in the but can also be found in Manchu literature. The marker represented as the grapheme of the middle form of letter A is put on a syllable boundary so that we can distinguish Guangying from Guanjing , etc.

Manchu family name

Like the Mongols, the Manchus were simply called by given name but they had their own clan names . ''Hala'' consisted of several ''mukūn'', the unit of exogamy. Unlike ''hala'', ''mukūn'' did not have corresponding names.

''The Comprehensive Book of the Eight Manchurian s' Surname-Clans'' , compiled in the middle 18th century, records many Manchu clan names. Among more than a thousand names, about 600 names are the Manchus'.

Gioro, one of major names, is the only name that has various suffix such as Ayan, Ilgen and Sirin, possibly to distinguish from the imperial family name Aisin-Gioro.

Huang

Huang is a Chinese surname that means "yellow". While ''Huáng'' is the pinyin romanisation of the word, it may also be romanised as Houang, Hoang, Wong, Vong, Hung, Hong, Bong, Eng, Ng, Uy, Wee, Oi, Oei or Ooi, Ong, Hwang, or Ung due to pronunciations of the word in different dialects and languages. The surname is known as Hoàng or as Hu?nh in , and Hwang, Whang in .

Huang is the 7^th most common surname in China. A typical chinese name is Edmund Huynh. The population of Huangs in China and Taiwan was estimated at more than 29 million in 2000; it was also the surname of more than 2 million overseas Chinese, 4.3 million Vietnamese , and an estimated 1 million Koreans .

See also Wong, the common English transliteration of Cantonese on the surname Huang.

Huang

*Huang Chao , Tang dynasty. Leader of peasant rebellion army
*Huang Chunping, chief commander of rocket system of , deputy chief commander of the , member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference
*Huang Chuping, also known as Wong Tai Sin, a Taoist deity
*
*Huang Feihong a prominent kung fu master
*Frank Huang , American violinist born in China
*Huang Gai, General of Wu Kingdom during the Three Kingdoms Period
*Huang Gongwang , Yuan Dynasty. Famous painter
*Huang Huahua 黃華華, is the current Governor of Guangdong, a southern province of China
*Jen-Hsun Huang 黃仁勳, co-founder of Nvidia Corporation
*Huang Jiading 黃家定, President of Malaysian Chinese Association , Minister of Housing and Local Government & Acting Minister of Health of Malaysia.
*Wong Jim , lyricist and writer
*Huang Jianxiang, football commentator
*Huang Jinhui . Former president of the Republic of Singapore.
*Huang Ju, politician
*Huang Shumin, Famous woman in China in the Tang Dynasty with gorgeous feature.
*Kai Wong U.S. actor, producer.
*Huang Kun , physicist
*Huang Qiaoshan , Vice-Minister of Works of Tang dynasty.
*Huang Senping , better known as Ong Sum Ping, son-in-law of Sultan Muhammad Shah, the first Muslim ruler of the Sultanate of Brunei.
*Huang Sheng Shyan, also known as Huang Hsing-hsien or Huáng Xìngxián , a kung fu and tai chi master.
*Huang Shengyi, a Chinese actress.
*Huang Shougong , Founder of the famous Kaiyuan Temple in Quanzhou, China.
*Huang Tingjian , Famous poet and calligrapher
*Huang Xie, Lord of Chunshen, Prime Minister of the state of during the Warring States Period
*Huang Xiang , Han dynasty. A noted filial son in Chinese history.
*Huang Xiaojing, Governor of Fujian, a southern province of China
*Huang Xing, Chinese revolutionary
*Huang Xun, General of Shu Kingdom during the Three Kingdoms Period
*Huang Yueying invented the juggernaut and wooden ox during the Three Kingdoms Period, also the wife of Zhuge Liang
*Huang Zhexian , The CEO of CommerceNet Singapore
*Huang Zhong, General of Shu Han Kingdom during the Three Kingdoms Period
*Huang Zongxi , Philosopher during Ming-Qing dynasties
*Alex Huang, Tai-American violinist
*David Henry Hwang, Chinese-American playwright
*Kai Huang, Medical Student , affiliated with R&B singer T-Pain
*Wayne Huang, The CEO and founder of the Rapid Learning Center, California, United States

Hwang

*Hwang , a common Korean family name.
*The Hwang River
*David Henry Hwang, US American playwright
*Dennis Hwang, a Korean American graphic artist.
*Hwang Jin-i, a legendary kisaeng of the Joseon Dynasty.
*Yi Hwang, a prominent Confucian scholar.
*Hwang Woo-Suk, a discredited South Korean biomedical scientist.
*Hwang Seong-gyeong, a fictional character in the of fighting games.
*Jack Hwang, a legendary martial artist and Taekwondo Grandmaster.
*Jun Hwang, a Korean Canadian musician.

Prominent people with Vietnamese family name Huynh

*Alex Huynh
*Carol Huynh
*Edmund Huynh
*Randy Huynh
*Hu?nh C?ng ?t
*Huynh Phu So
*Huynh Quang Thanh
*Huynh Sanh Thong
*Hu?nh T?n Phát
*Tony Huynh
*Huynh Van Cao
*Hu?nh V?n Ti?ng

Generation name

Generation name, variously ''zibei'' or ''banci'', is one of the characters in a traditional Chinese name, and is so called because each member of a generation share that character, unlike surnames or given names. Western names do not have an equivalent custom.

This table illustrates an example.



Where used, generation names were usually given only to males, although this does vary from lineage to lineage and has changed over time.

The generation name is a single character and is typically prescribed by a generation poem specific to each lineage. These poems can vary in length from around a dozen characters to hundreds of characters. Each successive character becomes the generation name for successive generations. After the last character of the poem is reached, the poem is usually recycled though occasionally it may be extended.

Generation poems were usually composed by a committee of family elders whenever a new lineage was established through geographical emigration or social elevation. Thus families sharing a common generation poem are considered to also share a common ancestor and have originated from a common geographical location.

Generation names may be the first or second name to follow the clan name. Normally its position is consistent for the associated lineage. However some lineages alternate its position from generation to generation. This is quite common for Korean names. Sometimes lineages will also share the same in the non-generation name.

Important examples are the generation poems of the Kong and Meng family. During the Ming Dynasty, emperor Zhu Yuanzhang respected Confucius and Mencius so much that he honored their families with generation poems. These generation poems were extended with the permission of the Chongzhen Emperor of the Ming Dynasty, the Tongzhi Emperor of the Qing Dynasty, and the Ministry of Interior of the Beiyang Government.

Dil (Surname)

Dil is a not as highly recognised surname such as Li and Chen. Many people in China who have this surname have decided to change their name as this name is linked to Chinese Profanity. Although the name is getting used by less Chinese people, the number of foreign users have adopted to the name Dil especially in the United States.

In China, the surname Dil is used by only a few thousand people mainly in the unreachable areas of China. In Hong Kong, very few carry this surname now as many have adopted or legally changed their surname to something else. This name is slowly getting phased out because of its recognition as an offensive word. In Cantonese, the word Dil is actually similar to the word Diu meaning to fuck while in Mandarin the word Dil also similar to Diu means penis.

History

During the Qing Dynasty, Dil Wor was the first person to be recognised under the surname Dil. The Dil family tried to fight a small army of the Qing's but did not succeed and a lot of their people were wiped out.

The Dil Surname slowly came back during the 1500s and many famous people with that particular name have appeared creating a population of 20,000 with this surname. The Americans have adopted this surname though and is used in a wide range of States including Wisconsin and also in highly populated cities such as San Francisco.

The Dil Village in Hunan, China has the highest population of Dil's which is around 300 but some of the people in the village spell Dil in different ways. For example Dil can be spelt as Diu if written in Latin form or otherwise Dill which is closely resembled to the European name Dillon.

Notable figures

Prominent people with family name 屌

* Dil Wor, 屌和, first person to be recorded with the name Dil
* Dil Ba, 屌白, Chinese poet from the 1700s
* Dil Wong, 屌王, Beijing Opera Singer
* Dil Man, 屌文, A novelist
* Dil Lee, 屌李, A famous German Poker contestant
* John Dil, 約翰屌, A British Trade Union Leader
* Elizabeth Dil, 屌伊莉莎白, Daughter of the Opera Singer Dil Wong
* Dil Man San, 屌文生, A Ship's captain for the Chinese ship ''Zhong Ai''
* Pierre Dil, Zambian Priest
* Jean Pierre le Dil, French Philosopher

Chinese surname

Chinese family name is one of the hundreds or thousands of family names that have been historically used by Han Chinese and in mainland China, Taiwan, and among overseas Chinese communities. In ancient times two types of surnames, family names , and Situ . There are family names with three or more characters, but those are not ethnically Han Chinese. For example, Aixinjueluo , was the family name of the Manchu royal family of the Qing dynasty.

Transliteration of Chinese family names into foreign languages poses a number of problems. Chinese surnames are shared by people speaking a number of dialects and languages which often have different pronunciations of their surnames. The into all parts of the world resulted in the Romanization of the surnames based on different languages. As a result, it is common for the same surname to be transliterated differently. In certain dialects, different surnames could be homonyms so it is common for family names to appear ambiguous when transliterated. Example: 鄭/郑 can be romanised into Chang, Cheng, Chung, Teh, Tay, Tee, Zeng or Zheng, . Translating Chinese surnames from foreign transliteration often presents ambiguity. For example, the surname "Li" are all mandarin-based pinyin tranliteration for the surnames 黎 ; 李, 理 and 里 ; 郦, 酈, 栗, 厉, 厲, and 利 depending on the which are often omitted in foreign transliterations.

Examples of variations in romanisation

Due to the different pronunciation and romanisations, it is generally easy to tell whether a Chinese person has origins in mainland China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, or Southeast Asia including Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines. In general people from mainland China will have both their surnames and names in pinyin. Those from Taiwan use Wade-Giles romanisation. People from Southeast Asia and Hong Kong usually base their romanisation of surnames and names on , and Cantonese dialects. The younger generation from Singapore predominantly have their surnames in dialect and names in pinyin.

There are also people who use non-standard romanisations, eg the Hong Kong media mogul 邵逸夫 Run Run Shaw's surname 邵 is spelt as Shaw, pinyin: Shao. The use of different systems of romanisation based on different Chinese language variants during the 1900~1970 also contributed to the variations.

Eg.

Written form	Pinyin	Wade-Giles	Min Nan / Cantonese	Cantonese	English meaning
陈/陳	Chen	Ch'en	Tan	Chan	arrange; exhibit; narrate; tell; old; stale; to state; to display; to explain
关/ 關	Guan	Kuan	Kwang/Kuang	Kwan	gate, gateway, mountain pass; to close; to shut; to turn off; to concern; to involve
何	He	Ho	Ho/Hoe	Ho	carry; what; how; why; which
黃	Huang	Huang	Ooi/Oei/Wee/Ng	Wong	sulfur; yellow
简/ 簡	Jian	Chien		Kan/Gan	simple
金	Jin	Chin	Kim	Kam	gold
林	Lin	Lin	Lim	Lam	woods; forest
王	Wang	Wang	Ong	Wong	king
吴/ 吳	Wu	Wu	Goh	Ng
许/ 許	Xu	Hsü	Koh	Hui/Hua	to allow; to permit; to praise
张/ 張	Zhang	Chang	Teo/Chong	Cheung	a measure word for flat objects like paper or tables; open up
赵/ 趙	Zhao	Chao	Chew	Chiu

Malaysia/Singapore/Indonesia/Philippines: some people use Pinyin or other spellings depending on their origin.
Please refer to the List of common Chinese surnames for the different spellings and more examples.

The sociological use of surnames

Throughout most of Chinese history, surnames have served sociological functions. Because of their association with the aristocratic elite in their early developments, surnames were often used as symbols of nobility. Thus nobles would use their surnames to be able to trace their ancestry and compete for seniority in terms of hereditary rank. Examples of early among the royalty can be found in Sima Qian's ''Historical Records'', which contain tables recording the descent lines of noble houses called ''shibiao'' .

Later, during the Han Dynasty, these tables were used by prominent families to glorify themselves and sometimes even to legitimise their political power. For example, Cao Pi, who forced the abdication of the last Han emperor in his favour, claimed descent from the Yellow Emperor. Chinese emperors sometimes passed their own surnames to subjects as honours. Unlike European practice in which some surnames are obviously noble, Chinese emperors and members of the royal family had regular surnames except in cases where they came from non-Han ethnic groups. This was a result of Chinese imperial theory in which a commoner could receive the Mandate of Heaven and become emperor. Upon becoming emperor, the emperor would retain his original surname. Also as a consequence, many people also had the same surname as the emperor, but had no direct relation to the royal family.

The Tang Dynasty was the last period when the great aristocratic families, mostly descended from the nobility of pre-Qin states, held significant centralised and regional power. The surname was used as a source of prestige and common allegiance. During the period a large number of genealogical records called ''pudie'' were compiled to trace the complex descent lines of clans and their marriage ties to other clans. A large number of these were collected by Ouyang Xiu in his ''New History of Tang''.

During the Song Dynasty, ordinary clans began to organise themselves into corporate units and produce genealogies. This trend was led by the poet Su Shi and his father. As competition for resources and positions in the bureaucracy intensified, individuals used their common ancestry and surname to promote solidarity. They established schools to educate their sons and held common lands to aid disadvantaged families. Ancestral temples were also erected to promote surname identity. Clan cohesion was usually encouraged by successive imperial governments since it aided in social stability. During the Qing Dynasty surname associations often undertook extra-judicial roles, providing primitive legal and social security functions. They played important roles in the Chinese diaspora to South-East Asia and elsewhere, providing the infrastructure for the establishment of trading networks. In southern China, however, clans sometimes engaged in armed conflict in competition for land. Of course, clans continued the tradition of tracing their ancestry to the distant past as a matter of prestige. Most of these origin myths, though well established, are spurious.

As a result of the importance of surnames, rules and traditions regarding family and marriage grew increasingly complex. For example, in Taiwan, there is a clan with the so-called "double Liao" surname. The story is that the founder of the clan was adopted and so took the surname Liao, but in honor of his ancestors, he demanded that he be buried with the surname Chen. As a result, his descendants use the surname Liao while alive and the surname Chen after death. In some places, there are additional taboos against marriage between people of the same surname, considered to be closely related. Conversely, in some areas, there are different clans with the same surname which are not considered to be related, but even in these cases surname exogamy is generally practiced.

Surname identity and solidarity has declined markedly since the 1930s with the decline of Confucianism and later, the rise of Communism in Mainland China. During the Cultural Revolution, surname culture was actively persecuted by the government with the destruction of ancestral temples and genealogies. Moreover, the influx of Western culture and forces of globalisation have also contributed to erode the previous sociological uses of the Chinese surname.

Common Chinese surnames

According to a study by Li Dongming , a Chinese historian, as published in the article "Surname" in ''Dongfang Magazine'' , the common Chinese surnames are:

Top 10 surnames, which together account for about 40% of Chinese people in the world. Many surnames have various ways of romanization, the following listed spellings include Hanyu Pinyin, which is the standard in the and Singapore, and other commonly used spellings.

李, 王, 張/张, 趙/赵, 陳/陈, 楊/杨, 吳/吴, 劉/刘, 黃/黄, 周

The 11th to 20th common surnames, which together account for more than 10% of Chinese people in the world:

徐, 朱, 林, 孫/孙, 馬/马, 高, 胡, 鄭/郑, Guo 郭, 蕭/萧/肖

The 21st to 30th common surnames, which together account for about 10% of Chinese people in the world:

謝/谢, 何, 許/许, 宋, Shen 沈, Luo 羅/罗, 韓/韩, 鄧/邓, Liang 梁, 葉/叶

The next 15 common surnames, which together account for about 10% of Chinese people in the world:

方, Cui 崔, Cheng 程、 潘, 曹, Feng 馮/冯, Wang 汪, 蔡, 袁, Lu 盧/卢, Tang 唐, Qian 錢/钱, Du 杜, 彭, Lu 陸/陆