Lost in translation of Chinese names

(China Daily)
Updated: 2009-09-18 10:25

For the average expat with an untrained ear, Chinese names tend to all sound the same, writes blogger Nate in his blog post "The Amatuer's Guide To Chinese Name Translation"

"They jumble together in a scrambled binary of Changs, Wangs, Wus and Hus," he writes.

"Upon further intensive (albeit unscholarly) investigation, you will find that Chinese names, when translated word-for-word, are in fact more daringly bestowed than those hippie children's (Flowerpot, Oaktree) names from the 1970s."

Some of the more common names, such as Aiguo, meaning 'patriot' for boys, or Xiao Qin, meaning 'morning diligence' for girls, became popular because of the time period in which the person was born.

But, Nate writes, if you step outside traditional definitions, the names become much more interesting.

Nate gives the example of a film professor named Liao Ye. The surname Liao, which was first used in ancient texts, involves words that mean both spacious and rare. While his given name, Ye, according to ancient texts, can be translated as meaning "a monument that shoots out brilliant light from the ground."

"So he is Mr Liao Ye, the film professor. Or you could say Professor Rare-and-Spacious-Laser-Volcano-Monument," Nate writes.