Chinese girl names

[Oxlady]

Hi, I am Chinese and having a little girl. My Mum has been trying to help me pick names but none of them stick out. I really like the name Sum but what other name would be suitable to go with it?

Jenny-May is a lovely name :-)

Bumping for you. The Chinese babies I know don't have traditional Chinese names. One is called Miley!

Mei works well in Chinese and English and so does Tian, but to be honest as someone who works in China a lot I find it idd that Chinese tend to pick an 'English' name. Most Chinese names are very pronounceable - Sum being a prime example! But names like Qing, Hui, Liu and Xue are all pretty easy once you've been introduced
To be honest though I don't think Sum sounds very pretty to to an English ear

Hey. How about Chinese middle names?

Or English first names with good meanings? Like Felicity , (happiness) Ellen (light) Ocean ( Deep and clear and powerful) Blossom, or the season they are born in?
Queenie is also favoured by the Chinese as it denotes grandeur.

Meilien - beautiful lotus
Hong - lucky

Old thread
www.mumsnet.com/Talk/baby_names/a1358406-A-Chinese-name-that-isnt-too-Chinese

My kids are half Chinese and half English. They have English surnames. They have Chinese middle names. We haven't gone for the 2 syllable Chinese names (Mei lian) but a single syllable names (Mei for example). They have English first names.

We have friends who have the same set up but have included mum's surname as a second middle name if that makes sense. So like John David Chen Smith (not the real names!).

Sunshine, I agree, most Chinese names are easy to pronounce.
I'd really like her to just have Chinese name because as Sleepywombat said, they won't use their Chinese name if they have an English one.
Does anyone know any other Chinese names for girls?

My DD has a Chinese name which we use but not romanised. I know Chinese and names don't work like English ones at all. I wouldn't use Mei/May because I don't like beauty as a female virtue. (Well DD is obsessed with Disney princesses so maybe it's appropriate).

The reason we didn't romanised it is that they sounded terrible when spoken in English using Hong Kong standard romanisation. This is the other can of worms depending on how you want to write it in English). And they are unpronounceable to English speakers if you actually want to say it properly. It all depends on what you pick of course.

I would probably trust your mum if she actually speaks Chinese. I assume Sum is only one of the characters? Has she picked the one meaning heart? Or deep?

Hong - I assume you mean red. It has a very communist undertone to it. Unless ofc it's what you want!

How about you pick some virtue like burgatroyd suggested but in reverse? Then you can use the virtue as a single character middle name.

tian as in sweet would be quite unusual? I can't think of anyone with that. Unless you mean another word? It's common as a nickname though.

Want to add that I think sum is a very normal name and from that I assume your mum is Cantonese?

How about names with Chinese connotations like Jade, Jasmine or Lily or Lilian.

kexin?

Thanks for your suggestions Onelittletoddleterror! Yes, Sum is only one of the characters and it is the one meaning heart. We can't agree on a second character which would go well with it. Is Tian pronounced 'deem'?

I met a very cute toddler called Li Yin once. That always stuck with me.

sunshine is using romanisation from mainland china. I assume then tian is sweet. Like the first word for pudding. By deem, do you mean like dim sum?

I can tell you can we picked for DD and my new baby (35 weeks now). It's Ka Ching and Ka Kei. Both very common names in HK. But the first one sounds like the sound of money, and the second sound like car key! We used an English name that sounded a bit like Ka Ching for DD middle name. (The ch sound is actually a cross betwee ch and t if you are wondering). The second we will use Jade as we can't think of anything remotely similar sounding and Kei is a type of Jade.

Lol! My dd's mn when translated from Chinese are rather romantic. Something like smiling mountains and clarity heart.

To be honest in Chinese culture grandparent or elder from a temple perhaps should help choosing the name. OK, sometimes that's pot luck. You might end up with Fat (lucky) as a name. That is why so many have a Chinese name but choose the translation as the meaning is important. Hence there being Chinese Oceans and Autumns out there.

Also if you get the phonetic sp wrong, or combo wrong you could end up with strange meaning. Think of Chinese tattoos that read something rude.

Also with Chinese flower names one can end up sounding like a concubine.

You could also repeat words like (Li-li)
Nuo and Daiyu or Ling Ling (I know this as a name. Means compassion)
cn.hujiang.com/new/p482393/

burgatroy haha so you know all The pit falls. Didn't know you also speak Chinese. Definitely with the bad combo as seen on tattoos. Also even though you can use any words in names, some just don't sound very name like to Chinese ears. Luckily for the OP fat is out as it's usually for boys! I do know a winky though . It is romanised as wing kin, another very common combo in HK. There are too many that ends up funny like this.

Also names are regional, just like US names might sound 'foreign' here. Just like welsh/Scottish names like Niamh and Isla in NZ. If the OP family is indeed Cantonese, then Qing, Xin, Xue are all out. Sum is something like Xin
in mainland mandarin. (Not sure exact romaninisation but it would start with X). My daughters Ka would be Jia.

And my cousin is named by a temple psychic. They picked a English name for him which is hilarious - Juvent. His parents used it in my birth cert but now he's in secondary he goes by Joshua. I don't blame him. His Chinese romanisation is Ho Wang. Not sure why his parents doesn't use something like Howard. It would sound similar.

I know someone from mainland called Jia Xin and she goes by Jessie. So it's not uncommon to go by the closest English name. (Or by meaning as you have suggested).

Ah! Yes I'm using mandarin pronounciation from the mainland. Never heard Sum but know and like Xin :)

sunshine en.m.wiktionary.org/wiki/?

It has a pronunciation guide to the different dialects. Singaporeans and Malaysians will also romanised differently. And so will Taiwanese though they also speak mandarin.

Also names are usually two characters, at least that's the case in HK. Some mainland Chinese have single character names but I wonder if it's regional. So a name would not be just Xin/Sum. More like Mu Lan. (Her surname is Hua ie flower. Haven't seen the movie so not sure if that's clear. She's always Hua Mu Lan in Chinese never MuLan).

Ah link didn't work. Seems like MN can't handle Chinese characters in URL /fail

one little yes, many potential comedy moments with names. Though there is an argument that westerners should just get used to Chinese names its not as easy as that.

There is a great article here on the topic

www.ibtimes.com/whats-name-how-chinese-choose-their-own-english-names-1306515

I have a Chinese middle name and an English first name. Honestly I've always been greatful for that. It makes things simpler and I felt I fit in more. But that's just me! I don't know any different. It was nice though when I went back that folks would use my Chinese name.