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Baby names

Find baby name inspiration and advice on the Mumsnet Baby Names forum.

Original poster

how to name a child graceful in english

56 replies

shuangnick · 12/06/2017 08:15

I live in China and my boy has been 2years old and it's time for him to have an English name now, a real English name which doesn't look like be given by chinese such as Jack, Peter. his chinese name is Reipeng which pronounced closely as Ray Pun in english, I'd like to name him a little bit similar to his chinese name in pronunciation, or maybe something else meaningful. would u give me any advice? thx a lot.

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Mulch · 12/06/2017 09:26

Rupert
Ronald
Reggie

steppemum · 12/06/2017 09:21

shuangnick - I understand that the school will insist on an English name, but no-one in England would ever expect you to use any name other than your own. So if he travelled to UK, he would call himself Reipeng, and that is what we would call him
(it doesn't sound anything like raping, that was a really odd comment)

Ray is a really nice nirmal English name, and very close to his own name, so I would use something like that.

Original poster
shuangnick · 12/06/2017 09:14

Thanks for you all, I'd never expected that the MNers here are so hospitality and thoughtful before. And you really give me a lot of advisable and sensible idea, and I even can't restrain a laughter when reading the sentence that "Ray Pung sounds WAY too like raping".how humourous you guys are. Now it clears a lot in my mind. And to answer someone's confusion, more and more 1-3yrs old children lived in China get to learn English as a part of early childhood education in preschool, kindergarten or some sort of institution like that, before enjoying the class, they need to be given an English name for a better situational entry. Thank you all so much indeed

OP posts:
steppemum · 12/06/2017 09:02

It isn't alwasy as simple as 'English people can't pronounce Chinese names'

I used to work alongside a lot of Koreans. They all had English alternative names, but I wanted to learn their real names, Korean names and made a great effort to do so.
But then one day in a long conversation about cultural differences, one of my Korean friends explained, that for them every name should come with a title. The title is a honorific word used with your name that denotes the status between the speaker and listener.
So for example, oldersisterSteppe, and I would reply youngersisterFriend.
When their name was used without the pre-title bit, it felt to them extremely rude, it was particularly bad if you were an older person being addressed by a younger person or even a child. It is a bit like how some older people in the UK don't like being called their first name, but prefer to be Mr A or Mrs Y, only more extreme, it feels like a slap in the face.

If you used an English name, then the title doesn't matter and it is fine, it is only an issue with their own Korean name.
One family got round this by giving themselves Korean pseudonyms, which we all used, thinking it was their Korean names, when it wasn't!

So, I know nothing about Chinese culture, but the reasons for choosing an alternative aren't always that simple.

ErrolTheDragon · 12/06/2017 08:58

I've got a lot of Chinese colleagues in America, many of them have chosen to use an English name. I think that apart from making it easier for others, their original name would be a transliteration anyway which will never get pronounced quite right. It's a very normal practice.

Google tells me that the meaning of Ray in scotland is 'grace',

grufallosfriend · 12/06/2017 08:49

I can't see why English people would have a problem with Reipeng. He shouldn't need another name imo!

LorLorr2 · 12/06/2017 08:49

Morewashingtodo is right.

Booksandcrocheting · 12/06/2017 08:48

Ryan is quite a modern fashionable name in the UK.Jack is also popular in the UK at the moment so would be an OK choice. Plenty of UK teens called Ryan or Jack.

Loopytiles · 12/06/2017 08:43

Ray.

MollyHuaCha · 12/06/2017 08:42

Shuangnick ni hao. Ray would be a great name. I would go for Ray rather than Raymond because the final 'd' would be lost with the way Chinese people would pronounce it, when he is in a situation where Chinese people are speaking in English with western people.

In Scottish the meaning of Ray is 'grace'.
In Latin the meaning is 'radiant'.
In French the meaning is 'regal'.
In German the meaning is 'guards wisely'.
In English the meaning is 'counsellor'.

CaipirinhasAllRound · 12/06/2017 08:41

Rupert?

Morewashingtodo · 12/06/2017 08:41

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Pikachuwithyourmouthclosed · 12/06/2017 08:38

Quinlan means graceful. It's Irish, not English. It's a lovely name.

wobblywonderwoman · 12/06/2017 08:36

Ray would be lovely and better than Raymond (too old fashioned)

Otherwise Ralph (Ralf)

PlymouthMaid1 · 12/06/2017 08:36

Ryan is a good choice as it is a modern name but I think I would stick with Rei as it is easy enough for the English tongue to handle. You shouldn't have to actually have a different name but I suppose some are harder to remember than others or sound wrong.

RelaxMax · 12/06/2017 08:35

Use Ray. It's an English name, and everybody will know how to spell and pronounce it.

crumpet · 12/06/2017 08:32

Ray would be nice in that case. It's a traditional English name that everyone would recognise (it can also be used as a short form of Raymond). It is also used in phrases such as "ray of sunshine"/ray of light", which would then meet your preference for a graceful/natural meaning.

KarmaNoMore · 12/06/2017 08:31

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

ebarinov2305 · 12/06/2017 08:29

Maybe Ryan?

Original poster
shuangnick · 12/06/2017 08:29

his chinese name means smart&flourish

OP posts:
MiaZadora · 12/06/2017 08:28

Ray Pung sounds WAY too like raping so I'd leave it Ray or Raymond and not put anything that sounds like Pung after it.

Raymond is old fashioned but distinguished.

Why do you have to decide now? If he's already two, then it's not on his birth certificate, so if I under correctly it is not carved in stone. You could come back to this decision at any point.

I'm fascinated by the fact that you consider that you need an English name!

barrygetamoveonplease · 12/06/2017 08:26

Ray is fine in English.
Simon is a pleasant name, if you want something different from his Chinese name.

Original poster
shuangnick · 12/06/2017 08:25

i'd like his name sounds natural in English, and of course it'll be better if it means graceful as well as sounds natural. maybe IABU

OP posts:
LorLorr2 · 12/06/2017 08:23

Ray is a name that is sometimes used here, I suppose it's short for Raymond but the one I know has always just been known as 'Ray' alone.

Joinourclub · 12/06/2017 08:21

Raymond (old fashioned and little used though)
Reuben (very popular)
Robert

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