150 popular Chinese names for boys and girls: meanings and culture (2023)

In Chinese culture, the name plays an important role in the lives of the Chinese. Parents have a great responsibility when it comes to choosing a good name for their baby. Chinese parents believe that good names will bring luck and wealth to their children.

content preview

Chinese names: last name + first name

Chinese names consist of a surname and a given name. The last name goes first, followed by a first name. Most surnames consist of a single Chinese character. Some have two characters. Most names have two characters, some have one, and very rarely three are used.

Chinese name versus English name

The 10 most common Chinese surnames

Chinese "surnames" (family names) are written first, in contrast to the order of Western names. About 2,000 Chinese surnames are in use today, but roughly half of all Han Chinese share the same 19 surnames!

The most common surnames are Wang and Li (each accounting for about 7% ofthe population of china, compared to about 0.8% for Smith, the most common surname in the US). The next 8 of the 10 most common Chinese surnames are: Zhang, Liu, Chen, Yang, Huang, Zhao, Wu, and Zhou.

Name change after marriage?In China, women do not change their surnames when they get married. And today, children's surnames can be the same as their mother's or father's (or they can carry both, as a double surname). Traditionally, Chinese children always take their father's surname.

chinese names

Almost all Chinese given names consist of one, two, or three Chinese characters written after the family name. Two-character given names are by far the most popular among most Chinese.

Very few people have three characters in their given name. Some of these people have their mother's last name as the first letter of their given name. For example, Daming, whose last name is Li, is called Lidaming. Chinese names have many taboos. One of them uses the name of old relatives or simply copies the name of a famous person or celebrity. Children cannot have the same names as their parents.

chinese generation names

A Chinese generation name is one of the characters of a standard two-character Chinese given name shared by the same generation, e.g. B. Cousins ​​or siblings. The character used can be the first or the second.

In a large traditional Chinese family, you will see many young boys or girls who have the same generational character in their given names. Sometimes boys have one generation name and girls have another.

For example, Li Zuyang and Li Zuli share the same character "Zu".

Common Chinese names and their meanings

Given names for a particular year often commemorate an important event. Like Jianguo ("Establish County") was used by many babies born in the founding year of modern China (1949). Most Chinese names have meanings such as "luck", "beauty", "happiness", or "good wishes".

Popular Chinese names for women/girls

Most traditional Chinese female names refer to "beauty", "happiness", "flowers", or "jade". Here are some of the best female names:

• 1. Oh love - love
• 2. Catch 芳 – smell
• 3. Jing – ruhig/still
• 4. Li Li - bonita
• 5. Min 敏– agile/intelligent
• 6. Yan - swallow
• 7. Xiu 秀 – graceful/elegant
• 8. Already – elegant
• 9. Hua-Blume-Blume
• 10. Fen Finn–Scent
• 11. Xiang Xiang – Duft
• 12. Chun 春 – Primavera
• 13. Mei – Beauty

The 10 most popular Chinese names for women/girls

According to surveys conducted by the Chinese Ministry of Public Security, the top 10 most popular Chinese girl names right now are as follows:

• 1. A promise (Yī nuò) – a promise
• 2. Yi Nuo (Yī nuò) – seguir la promesa
• 3. Xinyi (Xīn yí) – happy/calm
• 4. 梓涵 (Zǐ hán) – more Catalpa-Baum
• 5. 语桐 (Yǔ language) - pronounce Simplex Firmian tree
• 6. Xin Yan (Xīn yán) – vitality/beauty
• 7. Kexin (Kě xīn) – to deserve admiration
• 8. Yuxi (Yǔ xī) – pronounce night tide
• 9. 雨桐 (Yǔ tong) – Regen-Firm-Simplex-Baum
• 10. Mengyao (Mèng yáo) – Traum/Jade

30 More Chinese Girl Names That Will Inspire You

• 1. Chan Juan (boring juān) – der Mond
• 2. Chunhua (chūn huá) – Frühlingsgnade
• 3. 冬梅 (dōng mei) – Winter plums
• 4. Huiying (huì yǐng) – kluge Schönheit
• 5. Huifen (huì fēn) – wise fragrance
• 6. Jiali (jiā lì) – good and beautiful
• 7. Jiayi (jiā yí) – appropriate
• 8. Jiahui (jiā huì) – very intelligent
• 9. 兰芬 (very nice) – Orchid scent
• 11. Lihua (lì huá) – schön elegante
• 12. 丽梅 (more) – beautiful plum blossom
• 13. Lina (lì nà) – beautiful/pretty
• 14. 美莲 (my lotus) – beautiful lotus
• 15. Mingxia (míng shiá) – helles Leuchten
• 16. Mingzhu (ming zhū) – Living Pearl
• 17. Qiaohui (qiǎo huì) – Klug weise
• 18. 小丹 (xiǎo dān) – little sunrise
• 19. Xiaohui (xiǎo huì) – kleine Weisheit
• 20. Yuming (yù míng) – Jadehelligkeit
• 21. Cloud of poems (shī yún) – Cloud of poems
• 22. Maggie (měi qí) – schöne Jade
• 23. Language (yì tóng) – simplex firmian art
• 24. 若瑄 (ruò xuān) – gelbbraune Taglilie
• 25. Feliz (xīn yuè) – happy
• 26. Yanya (yán yǎ) – grace of beauty
• 27. Le Qi (when qí) – Musikjade
• 28. 思语 (sī yǔ) – to think and speak
• 29. Qingyi (qíng yí) – sonnige Freude
• 30. Yiran (yí rán) – Happiness and joy

Popular Chinese male/boy names

Traditional Chinese boy names are typically associated with 'strength', 'greatness', 'luck', 'wealth' and 'achievement'. In Chinese culture, men are considered stronger than women. Popular Chinese characters for boys' names are:

• 1. Strong (qiáng) – Strong
• 2. Land (guó) – Land
• 3. 安(an)—safety
• 4. Solo (gang) – rigid
• 5. бо (bó) – abundant
• 6. 文 (when) – formed
• 7. Super (chāo) – to overcome
• 8. Cheng (cheng) – Success
• 9. (hao) - rico
• 10. Ming (Ming) – Infierno
• 11. Wei (wěi) – grandeza
• 12. up to (dà) – logro
• 13. De (de) – Tugenda
• 13. Fu (fu) – luck
• 14. rico (fù) – wealth

The top 10 most popular Chinese boy names right now are as follows:

• 1. Yichen (Yìchén) – big sun, moon
• 2. Yuxuan (Yǔxuān) – Elevated universe
• 3. Haoyu (Hàoyǔ) – rules the Universe
• 4. Definition (Yìchén) – also universe
• 5. Yuchen (Yǔchén) – Universe, Sun, Moon
• 6. Zimo (Zǐmò) - sophisticated ink
• 7. Aerospace (Yǔháng) - Universe Cruiser
• 8. Haoran (Haoran) – Bueno
• 9. Zihao (Zǐháo) – hero Catalpa-Baum
• 10. 亦宸 (Yìchen) – also celestial purple

30 More Chinese Boy Names That Will Inspire You

• 1. 明涛 (ming tāo) – great brilliant wave
• 2. (fried oysters) - huge
• 3. Junjie (jun jié) – excellent
• 4. Zihan (z han) – Catalpa-Baum
• 5. Mingzhe (huì fēn) – brilliant philosophy
• 6. Zehong (jiā lì) – the vast paradise
• 7. Jiahao (jiā háo) - wonderfully heroic
• 8. Zi Rui (zǐ ruì) – schlau
• 9. Blog post (bó wén) - very polite
• 11. Ein Ming (yī míng) – a footprint
• 12. Junde (jùn dé) – beautiful together
• 13. Haoyu (hao yǔ) – Helles Universum
• 14. (hao yáng) – wide sea
• 15. Yongle (yǒng lè) – happily ever after
• 16. Yu Ze (yǔ zé) – Paradise of the Universes
• 17. Jiawei (jiā wěi) – Familia grande
• 18. Jianhao (xiǎo dān) – Construye grandeza
• 19. Great country (wěi guó) – great country
• 20. Mingyu (míng yù) – bright shine
• 21. Zixin (zǐ xīn) – Prosperity of the son
• 22. Shi Lei (shí lěi) – Roca
• 23. Zhipeng (zhì péng) – a legendary bird sage
• 24. Zixuan (ruò xuān) – very refined
• 25. Mu Yang (mù yáng) – die Sonne baden
• 26. Le Yang (lè yáng) – fröhliches Meer
• 27. Bo Cheng (bó cheng) – Largest Erfolg
• 28. Jianyu (jiang yǔ) – The construction of the universe
• 29. Tiankuo (tiān kuò) – wide sky
• 30. Dongyang (dōng yáng) – Eastern Sun

30 Gender Neutral Chinese Baby Names

• 1. Hui (huì) – Schlau
• 2. Ann (an) - peace
• 3. 晨 (chén) – Rupture of the Tagus
• 4. Spring (chūn) – Spring
• 5. Willow (liǔ) – sauce
• 6. Jiang (jiang) – Fluir
• 7. Ming (míng) – brightness
• 8. 平 (ping) – peaceful, stable
• 9. Good (shàn) - moderate
• 10. 翔 (xiáng) – to fly like a bird
• 11. 恒 (colgar) – eternal
• 12. Light (Guang) - glorious
• 13. Huan (huān) – Happiness
• 14. 波 (bo) – appeared
• 15. 秋 (qiu) – Herbst
• 16. treasure (bǎo) – treasure, jewel
• 17. Wald (web) – Wald
• 18. kě (xiáng) – fähig
• 19. Curvo (cōng) – clever
• 20. Ling (líng) – schlau
• 21. 文 (when) – formed
• 22. Promise (nuò) – Promise
• 23. new (xīn) – new
• 24. Yang (yáng) – Sonne
• 25. Xin (xīn) – riqueza
• 26. Detail (xiáng) - peaceful
• 27. English (yīng) –flor, sabia
• 28. Xi (xī) – feliz, radiante
• 29. 晶 (jīng) – shine
• 30. Chang (chico) – smooth

The most beautiful Chinese names.

There are many beautiful Chinese names with good wishes and phonetic harmony. The Chinese characters are nicely combined and have beautiful meanings. These are some of the most beautiful names:

• Eigetsu Yingyue:Girl names containing "moon" have the precious meaning of beauty and harmony. The name Yingyue means "reflection of the moon".
• Zhiruo Zhiruo:The Chinese characters 芷 and 若 are two herbs. In ancient China, many parents named their babies after herbal plants.
• Wangshu Wangshu:Wang means "hope" and shu means "comfortable".
• poll:Mochou means "free from sadness."

funny chinese names

Many Chinese characters have the same pronunciation but different meanings. When a surname and a given name are combined, some of them can be very funny. For example, a man with the surname 钱 ("money") might have the full name 钱多 (Qian Duo - "a lot of money"), which means "too much money".

Someone with the surname 周 ("week" is one of several meanings to Zhou) could have given the name 末 (Mo - "end"), so their name would mean "weekend"!

How to choose your Chinese name

1. Choose a name that sounds similar to your English name.

Most people are fine with choosing a common Chinese name that sounds similar to their English name. For example, if your name is Johnson, your Chinese name could be 强生 Qiangsheng /chyang-shng/ or 约翰逊 Yuehansun /ywair-han-swn/. The use of translation software can help to get a good name.

2. Choose a common or popular Chinese name!

It is an easy way to have a beautiful Chinese name. Take a look at the popular names above.

3. Choose some characters that you like or can write.

Choose for yourself the characters that are easy to read and write.

4. Ask your Chinese friends for advice.

One of the best ways to choose a Chinese name is to ask your Chinese friends for advice. You will become more familiar with the meaning and appropriateness of Chinese characters.