Mandarin/English speakers - help please!

[twolittlepigs]

A friend in China has asked me to help him give his little girl and English name. Her Chinese name is Wang XiaoYa (sorry, the characters didn't come through the email).

Any suggestions?

Should I be suggesting names that sound similar to her Chinese name?

Thanks in advance!!

[pollymere]

I have a Chinese Mother-in-law.

My husbands name in English does sound like his name in Chinese but his sister and brother have separate names. My daughter's name Katy is Kei Kei, as the closest to Katy in Chinese means aubergine!

I would suggest that you could come up with some names that sound similar to XiaoYa (Joanna maybe!?) or help your friend choose a name with a nice meaning. They will soon tell you if it means something funny in Chinese!

You could also ask the meaning of her Chinese name and look it up on an English site so that her English name has the same meaning. The new name will also have to go with Wang so don't pick a name that begins with a T or S.

Have fun!

[mumzy]

Zola!

[TheFatOwlOfTheRemove]

Chaya?

[loobylu3]

twolittlepigs- does your friend want an English name that sounds like the Chinese name or simply something pretty to use as a first name/ middle name alongside the Chinese name?
We have friends who are Chinese who have an English name followed by a Chinese name in the middle name slot and also a friend who was given an English name to use in class long ago, which she uses it most of the time in this country as people find her Chinese name more difficult.

I'm not quite clear what you/ your friend are looking for.

[twolittlepigs]

Pollymere - thanks for the suggestions! Have emailed him asking for the meaning. Although I do know that chinese names can have quite abstract meanings...but I still like the idea of finding a name of similar meaning in English.

Loobylu3 - my understanding is that this would be an English name to use alongside her chinese name, not to use exclusively and therefore putting the chinese name in the middle place. (If that makes sense). I very much doubt it's going on her birth certificate...

[mumzy]

Well xiao means small/delicate and the meaning of ya will depend on the radical. Maybe a flower name such as Viola or Rosa might suit

[BecauseImWorthIt]

Girls' names in Chinese are usually supposed to be positives, so about beautiful things.

My Chinese name (an artifice - I am learning Mandarin, I am not Chinese!) takes my surname (starr) and translates this into 'xing' - a common Chinese surname - and then my first name is 'li' which means beautiful.

'Xiao' means little and 'wang' means king.

I'd be tempted to go for a flower name too, as mumzy suggests - probably something really classic but also small and delicate. Daisy or Violet?

[sapell3]

Willow
Xanthe
Xenia
Jasmine
Jennifer
Joy
Julia
Zara
Zoe