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linghxr · 3 months

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Exploring Chinese names of Taiwan

A while ago, I stumbled across this press release for Taiwan's National Names Statistical Analysis report. Then I clicked on the full report and spent days glued to my screen reading it!

So, courtesy of Taiwan's Ministry of the Interior, let's look at some of the data. We will look at: top given names, top full names, and top unisex names.

Top 10 given names (by decade)

The report shows the top names by decade, which is really fascinating because you can see how tastes and trends changed over time. I'm just going to show the overall top 10 and last three full decades (1990s, 2000s, and 2010s) but you can see the rest on pg. 280 of the report (pg. 281 of the PDF).

Male

Overall

家豪 Jiāháo / 14,038人

志明 Zhìmíng / 12,719人

建宏 Jiànhóng / 12,196人

俊杰 | 俊傑 Jùnjié / 12,187人

俊宏 Jùnhóng / 11,189人

志豪 Zhìháo / 10,676人

志伟 | 志偉 Zhìwěi / 10,563人

承翰 Chénghàn / 9726人

冠宇 Guànyǔ / 9655人

志强 | 志強 Zhìqiáng / 9101人

1991-2000

家豪 Jiāháo / 4039人

冠宇 Guànyǔ / 3603人

冠廷 Guàntíng / 3399人

承翰 Chénghàn / 3008人

宗翰 Zōnghàn / 2831人

柏翰 Bóhàn / 2594人

彦廷 | 彥廷 Yàntíng / 2502人

冠霖 Guànlín / 2114人

俊杰 | 俊傑 Jùnjié / 2084人

承恩 Chéng’ēn / 1918人

2001-2010

承恩 Chéng’ēn / 2997人

承翰 Chénghàn / 2636人

冠廷 Guàntíng / 2452人

冠宇 Guànyǔ / 2206人

宇翔 Yǔxiáng / 1938人

柏翰 Bóhàn / 1885人

彦廷 | 彥廷 Yàntíng / 1610人

冠霖 Guànlín / 1509人

柏宇 Bóyǔ / 1471人

柏谚 | 柏諺 Bóyàn / 1409人

2011-2020

承恩 Chéng’ēn / 2215人

宥廷 Yòutíng / 2036人

品睿 Pǐnruì / 2021人

宸睿 Chénruì / 1904人

宇恩 Yǔ’ēn / 1860人

宇翔 Yǔxiáng / 1713人

承翰 Chénghàn / 1556人

宥辰 Yòuchén / 1532人

柏睿 Bóruì / 1511人

睿恩 Ruì’ēn / 1503人

Female

Overall

淑芬 Shūfēn | Shúfēn / 31,879人

淑惠 Shūhuì | Shúhuì / 30,420人

美玲 Měilíng / 27,487人

丽华 | 麗華 Lìhuá / 25,624人

美惠 Měihuì / 25,015人

淑贞 | 淑貞 Shūzhēn | Shúzhēn / 23,904人

雅婷 Yǎtíng / 23,407人

秀英 Xiùyīng / 23,020人

淑娟 Shūjuān | Shújuān / 22,828人

秀琴 Xiùqín / 22,266人

1991-2000

雅婷 Yǎtíng / 5797人

怡君 Yíjūn / 3575人

怡婷 Yítíng / 3183人

雅雯 Yǎwén / 3084人

诗涵 | 詩涵 Shīhán / 3006人

钰婷 | 鈺婷 Yùtíng / 2775人

怡萱 Yíxuān / 2729人

雅筑 Yǎzhù | Yǎzhú / 2700人

郁婷 Yùtíng / 2600人

宜庭 Yítíng / 2555人

2001-2010

宜蓁 Yízhēn / 2629人

欣妤 Xīnyú / 1643人

诗涵 | 詩涵 Shīhán / 1610人

思妤 Sīyú / 1561人

雅婷 Yǎtíng / 1439人

宜庭 Yítíng / 1394人

佳颖 | 佳穎 Jiāyǐng / 1375人

品妤 Pǐnyú / 1336人

子涵 Zǐhán / 1271人

怡萱 Yíxuān / 1258人

2011-2020

品妍 Pǐnyán/ 2421人

子晴 Zǐqíng / 2087人

咏晴 | 詠晴 Yǒngqíng / 2001人

品妤 Pǐnyú / 1697人

禹彤 Yǔtóng / 1578人

羽彤 Yǔtóng / 1434人

芯语 | 芯語 Xīnyǔ / 1342人

宥蓁 Yòuzhēn / 1226人

语彤 | 語彤 Yǔtóng / 1221人

苡晴 Yǐqíng / 1164人

Top 10 full names

In Mainland China the most common full names are usually something like 张伟 and 李娜. In Taiwan, 单名 (single-character given names) are much rarer, so the results are very different. We can also really see the dominance of the surname 陈 here. The rest of the top 100 are on pg. 268 of the report (pg. 269 of the PDF).

Male

陈冠宇 | 陳冠宇 Chén Guànyǔ / 4021人

陈建宏 | 陳建宏 Chén Jiànhóng / 3524人

张家豪 | 張家豪 Zhāng Jiāháo / 2890人

陈俊宏 | 陳俊宏 Chén Jùnhóng / 2801人

陈冠廷 | 陳冠廷 Chén Guàntíng / 2469人

陈柏宇 | 陳柏宇 Chén Bóyǔ / 2383人

林建宏 Lín Jiànhóng / 2375人

陈柏翰 | 陳柏翰 Chén Bóhàn / 2353人

陈彦廷 | 陳彥廷 Chén Yàntíng / 2249人

陈信宏 | 陳信宏 Chén Xìnhóng / 2120人

Female

陈怡君 | 陳怡君 Chén Yíjūn / 5744人

林怡君 Lín Yíjūn / 4401人

陈淑芬 | 陳淑芬 Chén Shūfēn | Chén Shúfēn / 3747人

张雅婷 | 張雅婷 Zhāng Yǎtíng / 3491人

陈美玲 | 陳美玲 Chén Měilíng / 3235人

陈怡如 | 陳怡如 Chén Yírú / 3121人

陈美惠 | 陳美惠 Chén Měihuì / 3103人

陈淑惠 | 陳淑惠 Chén Shūhuì | Chén Shúhuì / 2921人

林淑惠 Lín Shūhuì | Lín Shúhuì / 2903人

陈淑贞 | 陳淑貞 Chén Shūzhēn | Chén Shúzhēn / 2751人

Unisex/gender-neutral names

Do you want a name that doesn't strongly lean towards masculine or feminine? The report also highlight the common names across genders. It seems their criteria for this was names falling between 40% male-60% female and 60% male-40% female.

To clarify, they actually looked at the top 100 full names, not given names. For instance, 宥均 Yòujūn was on the list three times with three different surnames. But I re-sorted the list by given name since I was curious to see that. You can find the original data on pg. 270 of the report (pg. 271 of the PDF).

宥均 Yòujūn Total: 1804人 Male: 54.77% Female: 45.23%

佳霖 Jiālín Total: 1111人 Male: 51.67% Female: 48.33%

家华 | 家華 Jiāhuá Total: 923人 Male: 53.41% Female: 46.59%

郁文 Yùwén Total: 847人 Male: 43.68% Female: 56.32%

禹安 Yǔ’ān Total: 789人 Male: 51.71% Female: 48.29%

以恩 Yǐ’ēn Total: 730人 Male: 49.32% Female: 50.68%

孟儒 Mèngrú Total: 643人 Male: 55.05% Female: 44.95%

冠桦 | 冠樺 Guànhuà Total: 643人 Male: 52.26% Female: 47.74%

靖恩 Jìng’ēn Total: 621人 Male: 44.93% Female: 55.07%

品辰 Pǐnchén Total: 600人 Male: 58.83% Female: 41.17%

Notes

The report is INCREDIBLY detailed. I'm not kidding. The body of the report is not that long, but it has a very long appendix with about 200 pages of tables. Here are some examples of data included that I didn't mention:

Most popular given names people changed their names to

Most common 单名 and 叠字名字

Most common last names by city/county

Indigenous peoples' use of the Latin alphabet for names

Prevalence of multi-character surnames

And so, so much more!

And FYI, the report uses the ROC calendar, which starts with the founding of the Republic of China. To convert from the ROC calendar to the Gregorian calendar, add 111. Ex: 1年=1912 112年=2023

Pronunciation & tones

冠 is a 多音字 that is pronounced guān or guàn. I went with guàn because that seems to be more common in names from what I've observed.

柏 is also a 多音字 that can be pronounced bǎi or bó. MDBG says Taiwan doesn't have the bǎi pronunciation. I usually hear it read as bó in names, so that's what I'm going with.

MDBG also says 淑 is pronounced shú (not shū) in Taiwan. Likewise, it says 筑 is zhú (not zhù). I'll take their word for it.

I tried to put apostrophes in the right places (like for 承恩 Chéng’ēn), but I'm really bad at knowing when and where to use it. Please pardon any mistakes!

See similar posts: Chinese surnames that are more common in Taiwan A closer look at Chinese names Analyzing Chinese names: Syllables & tones The evolution of Chinese names (Kontinentalist)

#chinese names #taiwan #chinese name #taiwanese names #taiwanese name #chinese #mandarin #mandarin chinese #chinese language #studyblr #langblr #learning languages #language learning #chinese langblr #mandarin langblr #languageblr

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yeyayeya · 16 days

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Ok while he is not my OTP for Yin Yu (QuanYin will always have my heart), I actually think He Xuan x Yin Yu is such an interesting pairing and I like to think of scenarios for them. Like that ship is just something, and I am here for it

But I recently found out that their ship name is Black Moon and hello??? That is such a pretty name?? That ship name alone makes me ship them more tbh. I always called them YinXuan/XuanYin in my head

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heckyeahponyscans · 1 month

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G1 My Little Pony Summer Special 1986

#My Little Pony #mlp #g1 #comics #cw slur #Sparkler #Glory #Lickety Split #Gypsy #Mandarin Orange #Majesty #Smelling Bee #Spike #Honeycomb #Medley #Duck Soup #Sprinkles #Gypsy's name is unfortunate but she has some of the coolest powers

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muguathepapaya · 1 year

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Been learning Mandarin Chinese for ten plus years. Feel free to add more tips.

#chinese langblr #mandarin chinese #mandarin #Chinese names #studyblr #langblr #mandarin learning #mandarin language #mandarin langblr #chinese #translating

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hcdragonwrites · 9 months

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Banquet ( a @journey-to-the-au fic)

I had to split this into two parts because … it’s 16 pages and I did NOT want to swamp anyone with a wall of text. I’m finishing up the last bit later today possibly after work or tomorrow. I hope you all enjoy!

If there was anything that Heaven knew how to do, it was to throw a party.

In the most boring way possible to Willow.

The entertainment for tonight’s banquet of Heavenly Delight were four great white mares, set to dancing. The great beasts were dressed in robes so long they brushed the courtyard ground beyond their feathered hooves. Purple and gold, saffron and yellow silk was tied to their manes as they sashayed and side stepped in perfect tandem to the soft orchestra led by Gold Chimes Softly. The drums beat a second heart to the horses hooves. Everything was ever perfect and in time. Not a swish of a tail or a twitch of an ear. Willow heard the bells on the great hooves beat in perfect harmony. Other women from their seats applauded as the mares danced softly from side to side. To everyone who awaited the main course and delighted in the dancing, it was the most marvelous entertainment.

To Willow, she was bored to her wits end.

Not a single spark of spontaneous will, Willow thought as her hands settled in her lap. It was another feast her father had requested by letter for her to attend. Well her and Wukong who-even now after almost hundreds of years!- the celestial busy bodies still whispered that she, Earth Reaching Willow, must be under some sort of cursed spell, some beguilement to be married to him.

Sometimes the pasty nobles and smooth beautiful faces of the lady’s behind their fans and sleeves earned the deepest scorn from Willow.

She looked up to the sky. They were seated in the courtyard of sorts, where the pavilions were open to the air and backdropped by the perfectly cut ivy crawling it’s way up the trellis. The warm air and the music was welcome but also stifling in a sense. Incense burned not too far away, cloying with the scent of cooking food in the worst possible way. Willow saw that every star was in its perfect place, the constellations playing at perfection to please their Emperor. Another laugh from nearby caught her ear over the dancing horses. She turned and saw a few attendants huddled in a whisper, pointedly looking between other guests at the banquet. Seems their is rumor scheming going about. How dull.

I bet none of them have witnessed the beauty of a star shower from earth.

She hid it well however, her scorn. Willow couldn’t understand how anyone would choose Heaven over the ever changing earth below. None of these thoughts made themselves visible on her face however. Schooled and taught, bred to peaceful serenity, Willow let nothing ripple the calm of her outward appearance. As cool as a northern star, as serene as a flower in a vase.

Captive peace was hardly true peace. It was stagnation. It was the loss of what made the peace worthwhile. Willow had experienced that feeling: of tumbling in the grass, the heat of the fire as a lightning strike burned a forest down, of the sea and its salty spray in a storm. Willow had felt the movement of a world and it had caught her and held her constantly in its motion.

She took a sip of wine to hide her mouth as it began to slip into a frown. The wine may be of the best quality, brewed by the greatest hands and purified in the finest crystal, but it would never compare to the joy of the toasts her earthen family held in their patch of paradise. Of how when Ba got into his cups he would challenge his sister Ma to a duel of jokes and japes. The music made by Sweet, a kind little monkey, was a better tune and full of more life then Gold Chimes Softly well placed and organized orchestra. Sweet could play a jaunty tune upon their flute, while the rest of his little musician group followed along. They could whip the troupe into a frenzy of dancing and table jumping. Willow had danced before, controlled and reserved like the Mares in their bells and ribbons. But dancing within her husband's court had been an experience she never would have imagined missing. The dancing wildness and stamping feet, the spinning from partner to small partner, the joy that filled the air and the laughter. It had been better than star wine - it had been an intoxication that had left her heart drumming and face smiling wide.

The horses finished their beautiful dance and the court clapped. Willow clapped too. The mares did wonderfully. It was not their fault that the dance felt too restrained, too controlled.

Her father was happy to have her home. Willow could tell by the very evident glances down to his daughters from his seat at the head of the table. He had all of his family arrayed about him, basking. Willow made polite conversation that only scraped surface level with her sisters and the passing women who came to visit her seat. Willow complemented the lady’s jewels and colored gowns. To the men she disarmed a hundred pointed comments that were trying to dig beneath and get to the root of what would be tender and delectable tea to spill in court.

That great sage- he drinks with a gusto! Is it always this way?

Translation - is he a drunk ?

My what clothes. Such a unique style it must have been picked up in his travels!

Translation: He dresses like a Savage. Is He a Savage to you?

Willow had almost slapped another adviser who had pointedly remarked on the lack of children they had and questioned Wukongs ability to perform.

Her sisters, oh her clever sisters, had rallied to her defense in the most courtly way they could: they turned him into a piece of gossip to throw back to court.

“Did you hear?” Wind Over Sea stage whispered to Autumn Leaves Falling.

“Oh do tell!” Autumn Leaves Falling flashed her most wonderous smile, catching the Advisor in her trap.

“Seems that Moon Shadowed Clouds husband has been kicked out of their bedroom!” Wind replied, making direct eye contact with the Advisor.

“How terribly pitiful!” Weaves the Clouds remarked from her cushion beside the other sisters. The Jade Emperor watched from above, keeping himself out of the gossip.

“Wasn’t he caught drinking down in one of the mortal brothels ?” Autumn added, her eyes slashing toward the advisor.

“I heard it was on his Wife’s birthday to boot!” Winter Frosted Grace sniffed, setting her cup of tea down.

Her sisters turned in unison to stare down the Advisor with such cat like intensity.

“For shame!” Little Weaver Girl, the youngest of the brood of women, said loud enough for the court to hear. Little could get away with being louder than the rest- she was adored by their father and was the master weaver of heaven. Her creations had been sought after by all the courts when their father had worn one of her robes that Little had made. “Trying to twist your bad fortune onto my sister.”

The advisor, of course, made a swift exit with red ears and wounded pride.

Willow was thankful for her sisters. They alone understood that Willow, for whatever reason, had found comfort with Wukong and was truly happy. They didn’t see why she wished to remain down among the earthly mortals. Her happiness was what they valued and, like a streak of tigers, would defend with witty claws and well disguised barbs any that fancied a go at making court gossip from the Emperors family.

Willow wished for the upteenth time that she could bring the lot of them to their mountain. To see what she saw. She knew deep down that none of them would really understand. Except for Little. Her youngest sister often snuck from the court to watch the common people live their lives and to see the other mortal weavers of the world. Little would love their mountain. She began to think of Flower Fruit Mountain as theirs - her and Wukongs. It Held so many memories- so many joys and sorrows.

Where was Wukong?

Willow was surprised he had been absent so long. Wukong was still a bit unaccustomed to the Celestial workings of the court and it’s people. Even after attaining buddhahood and becoming an enlightened master, Willow knew that the gossip surrounding them would never die out. It was tiresome to interact with people who still brought things up from almost centuries ago.

She cast her gaze about for him and saw a flash of his red fur—

And his teeth.

Willows stomach fell, like a falcon folding her wings for a dive. Straight to the bottom of her soul

Wukong was surrounded by a swath of richly dressed courtiers, lords and men of the Palace. They kept a respectful courtly distance but Willow knew it was too close. Her dear friend was giving all the warnings she had learned over the centuries together to read. His eyebrows had been raised at the beginning of her watching but now they lowered, the teeth on full display. A smile of aggression. A smile that said ‘I take offense’. He felt accosted and would soon act upon it. For all the calm that had been taught, her husband could not forget that he was a creature that had to fight for so long.

Oh these utter fools, Willow thought. They still don’t know when to leave him well enough alone.

It would be their fault for not understanding Wukongs simple and very obvious attempts to walk past and around them. But another man would join, asking to hear of his teachings from the Buddha himself, and his eyes would make direct contact with theirs and the teeth would shine all the sharper. That wasn’t a smile. That was a promise of violence.

Willow knew if Wukong reacted it would only cement the court's opinion of Wild Beast they saw. Willow had to act fast before the feast turned from one of peace to one of violence. So Willow, setting her goblet down whispered to her nearest sister, Winter.

“Catch me.”

“Beg pardon?”

And then Willow, with the grace of all her years of acting and tricking the witless fools of Heaven, swooned and fainted. Winter caught her, crying out in more surprise than worry.

Willow made sure she brought her hand up dramatically to her face, the sleeve covering her mouth. Her elbow she had knock into the tray that held food and Willow was rewarded with the loudest clatter of porcelain cracking onto the floor beneath them. The goblet she had placed was sent flying to spill into the rug beneath their cushioned seats.

Sorry father. I know you wanted a peaceful night with us all.

Her dramatics had the desired effect: the court all took in a sudden breath and some gasped. She heard her father call to her and the worry in his voice made Willow's heart beat with a bit of guilt.

“Sister?” She felt hands shake her shoulders in worry and looked up beneath lashes into Winters frosty face.

“Play along, so that way the court doesn’t catch on.” Willow whispered and her hand subtly pointed to where Wukong had been- and where he was running up to her.

“Willow!” He sounded so worried it made her heart give another guilty squeeze. His hands had grown in size, meaning he had made himself larger than regular. “Are you alright my love?”

Willow looked just beneath her arm as she brought it up higher in a mock groan. But he was close enough to hear her now.

“Let’s go home.” Willow could see the stress lines on his face, the anger that had been there cooling like coals in a fire.

“Seems my sister fainted.” Bless her, Little was close enough to see that a game was afoot. And she always approved of games. “It’s been so long since she was at the Palace after all. The scents may have overwhelmed her.”

Wukong looked down just long enough to see Willow give a wink. Some of the tension leaked from him and she could feel it leave his hands. His fast mind seized onto this statement (now that he was given a signal that this was a ruse) and elaborated upon the story.

“My wife was worried about tonight. The winds over our mountain have been so clean and clear while Heavens incense must have overwhelmed her delicate nose.” Wukongs arms took her up, face close to hers.

“How did you know?” He mumbled into her hair. He didn’t ask her if she knew what. Wukong understood that she was doing this for him in some way. It was the intuition of being with each other for so long.

“Saw those courtiers - the fools.” She barely moved her lips to speak and was glad to have her sleeve covering her face. She couldn’t help the smile as he blew air into her ear, tickling her.

“You are a Heaven send.” He said to her then addressed the court.

“Seems my wife needs to clear her head. We will head home on the leave of my Father-in-Law the Jade Emperor.”

“You may go, Sun Wukong. Let me - let me know how she fares will you?” The worry that made the end of his voice tremble at the end had Willow feel just a bit more guilt.

Sorry Father.

Willow felt Wukong bow his head and then they were away, faster than a falling star on a path back to earth. Once past the Celestial guards Wukong tapped her shoulder with a claw and Willow dropped her act and sighed.

“Thank small mercies.” She sighed, gazing out at the fast approaching world below.

“Mercies exist but they are not small.” Wukong said. “I’m holding one in my arms.”

“You flatterer.” She laughed at the sappy look he gave her and she pressed his nose with a delicate finger. “Come, tell me true- what we’re those vipers cornering you about?”

“Seems they were beginning to question my … ability to … well …” Wukong was looking everywhere but her, the wind blowing across his fur. It couldn’t hide the blush turning his face and ears into a tomato.

It only took a second for Willow to understand- and she turned in his arms to glare back into the sky. “I will flay that Advisor!”

“Advisor?”

“Yes. The little shrew of a man must have set the rumour to running before he approached me himself.” The coward. She was glad her sisters had known enough gossip to spin his dilemma into a full show for the court. Willow touched Wukongs cheek, worried. “Tell me what happened.”

“They started asking about my ascension in Buddhism and asked about my teachings. Then they started … well. In on the questions of you and me and our… intimacies.” He was so uncomfortable that he was rubbing at his forehead, claws leaving little red marks on his exposed skin. “It started making me uncomfortable and I couldn’t see or get a clear path to return to you.” Wukong sighed. “I’m sorry Willow.”

“Sorry? You have nothing to apologize for! That man had come up to me and my sisters to dig at us for information as well.” Willow chuckled, remembering how Little, Winter, Cloud and Autumn had perfectly embarrassed the man. “Of course you know the sort my sisters are- even if they don’t quite approve of me living on earth they won’t stand for such pointed questions.”

“You were asked about children as well?”

“Yes and I was about to slap him.” This made Wukong laugh. They sped past a cloud front, promising heavy rain. The mountain was coming into sight now within a sea of jet black turned silver by the moon.

“I would have paid good money to see it. The second slap heard in all of Heaven!” Wukong chortled. Then he sobered. “I’m sorry again.”

“Stop Wukong.” Willow caught his face and pressed a kiss to his temple. “You didn’t do anything wrong.”

And then her stomach gave a tremendous growl, like the traitor it was. It took the wind from her words and flamed Wukongs look of timid regret.

“I pulled you away from the feast before you could even get a bite in.”

“We have all the food back at home.” Willow countered. Cursed stomach. As the Mountain got closer and the silence stretched a bit longer Willow looked back at her friend. His face was concentrated in thought that was slowly beginning to brighten to delight.

“Wukong, I know that face. What are you thinking ?”

He was silent, trying to make his face neutral again. And failing miserably. Once they had stepped down and onto solid ground, Wukong set Willow down and returned to his original size.

“Wukong…” Willow tried again, but was interrupted as the two sentries that night, Ma and Ba, came bounding forward, weapons drawn. When they saw it was Wukong and Willow they relaxed and called greetings.

“My King? You Return so soon!” Ma said.

“Was the feast good?” Ba asked, his broken tail giving an agitated flick.

Wukongs face was fully alight with a genuine smile as he looked at Willow then back at his family.

“The feast was a drab thing of mediocre blathering. We will outdo them here!” The Monkey King walked forward, taking Willows hand gently. She followed, knowing that she was about to get her answer to what Wukong was about to do

“Ma! Ba! Call the troupe- fire up the ovens. Set Water Curtain Cave in its best ! We will have our own feast that will rival Heavens!”

“Yes my king!” The two answered in unison then sped off, whooping and calling and waking all of the mountain for a feast. Ma grabbed at her brothers ear and yanked, getting ahead of him. Ba snarled in mock aggression, swinging his leg to knock Mas out from under her. The two had turned it into a race and it didn’t seem that either would make it out without a few bruises along the way.

“They seem eager for it.” Wukong laughed. He led Willow into their home as the lanterns were turned from their sleepy glow to a bright blaze.

“Wukong …”

“What?”

“Why a feast? I don’t need a feast — I would be satisfied with a simple fruit tart and some water.” Willow felt a bit guilty as she saw sleeping mothers poke their heads from the stone homes and peer out at the ever growing and excited crowd calling for feasting. She saw the kitchen fires light up like a twinkling row of stars coming to life.

“Nonsense!” Wukong assured, pulling her along. “ Why should Heaven have fun and we not have any? Besides I have to find a way to thank you for saving my pride while you lost a bit of your own.”

Was that what this was about ?!

“Oh Wukong it’s fine! Women are expected to faint and fall over themselves with the silliest things.” Her sisters had fainted countless times. Mostly to attract the eye of a gentleman or women they thought was beautiful or fancied. Willow had seen Autumn take the most spectacular swoon, right into the arms of one of the generals! Maybe theatrics ran in the family. Wukong simply shook his head. The idea had him now, the excitment of competing with Heaven growing brighter in his eyes.

“I won’t hear of it.” Wukong declared. Willow forgot how competitive her friend could be. But he also was hiding something else he wanted to do. She could read it like a book.

“You are planning something else are you not? Don’t lie, I can see it on your face plain as day!” She teased him, his mirth infectious. The whole cavern was now alive with the news- droves of the family were coming out now gathering in the banquet hall with foodstuffs to share and enjoy in. Wine was being brought up from the deeper colder caves and already the air smelled intoxicating as the cooks set to work.

It was Wukongs turn to wink at Willow now as he left her at her room door, smiling softly. “You will see~”

#hcwrites #writing stuff #for journey to the au #FIRST PART BEFORE I HAVE TO GO TO WORK #The next part is gonna be real long I’m so sorry #I got a bit carried away because writing joy and mirth is possibly one of the best experiences ever.#jttw sun wukong #jttw au #the betrothal au #I would love to post the second half right away but I’m not completely done with it #I want to add more fluff and such #jttw tag #fanfic writing #I put fanfic on this one because - well. drabbles are usually shorter and I use Drabble in such a loose term #this behemoth of writing is definitely not a little drable #jttw monkey king #I CANT wait to finish the second part but I have to get ready for work #I love all of Kaijus monkeys ok? they are precious #I really tried to stick to the three name form for the sisters too #I DONT trust myself to try and attempt direct chinese letters/ mandarin #also- I keep saying flower fruit mountain for the ease of spelling because I did try and spell out the full mountain name that is being used #HOWEVER I QUICKLY DISCOVERED THAT MY PHONE HATES IT AND WILL CHANGE IT TO HOUGANDAS #so I got frustrated and said ‘no’ lol #I also Found that in the late tang dynasty they had horses perform dances for entertainment #ERW #earth reaching willow #enjoy part 1 sorry to leave you without the second bit #jttw fanfic #hcfanfics

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qc-wiggles · 2 months

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約亙．蜼特納？

蠢貨傻逼操他媽的約亙．蜼特納該死的白痴收書的吃塵的戴綠帽的王八蛋死老頭子（等等⋯⋯）

#the jurgen leitner rant is unsurprisingly difficult to translate to mandarin. especially by someone who is not great at mandarin #hope you appreciate the 蟲子旁 in his last name it means a type of monkey but i felt it added to the charm #brutal pipe murder day #talks

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eemamminy-art · 3 months

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OC kiss week day 3 - Sunrise

Mallory getting his usual morning nuzzles from his favorite little farmhand 😊🐈

#alternate title: pov your bf is so cute and kissable in the morning but he notices his cat before you 😫#ockissweek #ockiss24 #stardew valley oc #sdv oc #my ocs #oc: mallory #the cat is named mandarin btw #and he is a baby boy

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onaperduamedee · 2 years

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I am obsessed with the way Park Chan-wook used translation in Decision to leave:

Sore apologizing for her imperfect Korean that is in fact quite literary, if Hae-joon is to be believed; Sore needing to express herself in Mandarin when sharing deeply personal details and using a program to translate her words, the confessions given to Hae-joon through a mechanical and disembodied voice; the shortcomings of said programm when Hae-joon translates and misinterprets her words regarding his body; the translation (lies) he himself unconsciously weaves when he talks to others about Sore; Sore checking afterwards the meaning of Hae-joon's specific words and her delayed reaction in front of her phone; the translation she does of his goodbye to her; the crushing, insurmountable realisation about what has been lost in translation in order to understand Sore's feelings and choices.

#Decision to leave #Park Chan-wook #Remblai #Decision to leave spoilers #It reminded me of Portrait of a lady on fire in its focus on how important words are #How choosing the right words is paramount but how meaning also blooms in the gap left between the idea and its expression #I wish I knew Korean and Mandarin to be able to grasp all the subtleties of the dialogues #The subtitles conveyed the elements above well which isn't always a given #Moiraine's voice: exact verbiage!#Anyway this is a little bit of a festival for anyone with a passing interest in linguistics so for that only I recommend it highly #It's also a beautiful and complex film with intricate performances #And Tang Wei #But yeah words #I realised I wrote their names with the French transliteration here #Feels meta

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xuexishijian · 1 year

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So the other day I posted some linguistics terms vocab, basic terms that I was curious about. And I looked up “dialect” and my dictionary gave me 方言 fāngyán, which I didn’t really question. Like fine, sure, “local speech,” that makes sense as what we call “dialect” in English.

But I just watched this lecture on YouTube called “How Fangyan became Dialects” by historian Dr. Gina Anne Tam and turns out that’s a very loaded assumption! Because basically there’s a long history of the sort of mismatch(?) between western terms for describing linguistic varieties (languages, dialects, vernaculars, etc etc) and those used in China. I’d definitely heard other Chinese languages such as Cantonese or Hokkien described as dialects, and this mistranslation or misrepresentation of 方言 is a major part of this problem.

The idea of language vs. dialect is a complex one, and these terms in Chinese languages don’t map 1-to-1 onto existing European-language ones. Linguists in the 19th and 20th century struggled with this and often made comparisons to what they knew from Europe, imposing distinctions and hierarchies that didn’t necessarily exist prior. Language and nationalism in Europe during these years is also super interesting and something I’ve read some about, and it makes sense then that westerners would be confused by a country with many forms of speaking when Europe was (and still is?) drawing up borders along linguistic+national+ethnic lines.

The development of nationalism in China through the 20th century led to further changes in the idea of a national language, especially with the promotion of first 國語 in the Republican era and 普通话 under the Communist government.

It’s interesting that what used to be a term for a region’s language can now be used in a hierarchical way to subordinate certain linguistic varieties to others. Dr. Tam mentioned that there was an article that generated controversy years ago that said that since Cantonese was a 方言 that is wasn’t fit to be taught and couldn’t be considered anyone’s 母语 mǔyǔ (mother language), that instead all Chinese people must learn and use 普通话, the national standard. This idea of course coming from the implications that 方言 now has, that it’s “merely” a dialect, that dialects aren’t “full” languages, that they’re inferior or incomplete or whatever.

Dr. Tam had a nicer way of phrasing this, but terminology is so important because these definitions—which may seem inconsequential, like we’re squabbling over minor issues that mean little—influence how we perceive and think, which in turn influences how we interact with the world. If a 方言 is just a dialect, and dialects are lower than languages, and Cantonese is a 方言, that means Cantonese is lesser. That’s a “logical” conclusion one can make, just a syllogism of X is Y, Y is Z, therefore X is Z (Cantonese is a 方言, 方言 is lesser, Cantonese is lesser). But that “logical” conclusion starts from a very very flawed premise, this definition which presupposes a hierarchy that doesn’t really exist linguistically (but then does exist socially and is justified by these “scientific” or “logical” reasons).

All that to say, this was a super interesting lecture (about her book that I might have to read!) and if you have time I would totally recommend giving it a watch. These terms are interesting and complex and nuanced, and knowing more about the history is really enlightening. I’ve been getting into language and identity lately, reading a lot about nationalism and race and the idea of “native speakers.” It feels like, while in other areas we might have made social progress, that language is one area that many people are super unaware of and take for granted their own biases without understanding these power structures and their histories.

Anyways I’d be curious to hear what anyone else has to say on the topic! And definitely if you watch her lecture let me know what you think!

#they covered a lot of other stuff in there too #I’m particularly interested in a topic they brought up regarding translation called a supersign #where basically X and Y terms in two languages aren’t equal but rather through translation create a supersign #two unlike signs are synthesized into a supralinguistic form that contains both of them #idk that was how I understood what they said anyway #I’ll have to read more on that too #the researcher for that is named Lydia Liu #if anyone’s read Babel #I’m willing to put money that the author has eead liu’s work #like the premise of Babel was exactly that #the fusion of unlike but translationally equatable terms to create something new #oof anyways wrote more than I meant to lol #linguistics #mandarin #cantonese #普通话 #国语 #方言 #汉语 #中文 #广东话 #粤语 #translation

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intheheartofcinema · 8 months

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Your Name Engraved Herein (2020)

Directed by Patrick Kuang-Hui Liu

Based on real events

#movie #movie stills #drama #romantic drama #coming of age #taiwanese bl #mandarin #friendship to love #gay romance #lgbtq #your name engraved herein #based on real life events

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linghxr · 1 year

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Analyzing Chinese Names: Syllables & Tones

It’s been a while since my last post about Chinese names. In one previous post, I wrote that I wanted to explore tones and syllable structure in Chinese names. And now here we are. I ended up shifting my focus a bit throughout the process, but I’m still excited to be sharing my results.

These questions/ideas guided this post:

Sometimes you don’t know how a name is written because you’ve only heard it or seen a transliteration. Setting aside the written language (Chinese characters), what syllables/sounds are most common?

I have read about naming conventions regarding tones. For example, using a mix of tones (instead of reusing the same tone) gives names a dynamic flow. So how are tones distributed in names?

Buckle up, everyone. This is gonna be a long one.

About the Data

I started with the data from my previous in-depth post about Chinese names. Like before, most names are from contestants on idol shows or members of idol groups. I added more names in this category and also some names of athletes (since for athletes it is also relatively easy to discern gender). In total, there were 4361 names (2340 female, 2021 male). Most names belong to individuals from Mainland China, but there are also names belonging to people from Taiwan, Hong Kong, Malaysia, and Singapore. See my past post for more details.

I had to do a lot of work to process the name data for this analysis. I will add some details towards the end of this post for those who are interested. I just want to note here that:

I did some work to account for tone sandhi for yi 一. As a result, you may see this character labeled as 1st, 2nd, or 4th tone.

I also applied tone change rules when there were multiple 3rd tones in a row (but not for surnames as it shouldn’t change there).

I had to correct for duoyinzi 多音字. Most of the time, it’s pretty clear which pronunciation is used, but there are some ambiguous cases.

I use standard Mainland pronunciation, not Taiwanese pronunciation. Characters like 薇 are pronounced differently in these locations.

I’m an imperfect human and probably didn’t catch everything. So keep that in mind.

Given Names (Overall)

First we will examine the overall results for all syllables across all given names to get a nice overview. Then we will dive into single-character given names vs. two-character given names.

Top Given Name Syllables (w/ Tones)

Pictured: Some of the most frequent characters for the top 11 syllables.

List format: Syllable / count Corresponding characters that occurred more than once

Yǔ / 263 宇雨羽语予禹瑀

Xīn / 229 欣鑫馨心昕新歆芯薪

Jiā / 216 佳嘉家加珈

Yì / 201 一艺奕逸亦毅懿翊义易翼忆意译轶熠羿亿薏

Zǐ / 139 子梓紫

Qí / 134 琪琦奇祺麒淇齐棋其岐崎

Wén / 116 文雯闻纹

Jié / 112 杰洁婕捷颉倢

Yù / 102 玉钰煜昱郁裕喻谕毓育誉

Jùn / 99 俊峻珺骏浚竣

Yáng / 99 洋阳扬杨炀旸

Top Given Name Syllables (w/o Tones)

List format: Syllable / count Corresponding characters that occurred more than once

Yu / 419 宇雨玉羽钰语瑜予妤煜禹昱郁俞渝裕于喻瑀谕余娱愚毓育誉

Yi / 356 一怡艺奕仪依逸亦伊毅宜懿翊义祎易翼苡忆意译轶颐乙以熠羿亿倚薏

Xin / 232 欣鑫馨心昕新歆芯薪信

Jia / 217 佳嘉家加珈

Jun / 165 俊君峻钧军珺均骏浚竣

Zi / 157 子梓紫姿兹

Qi / 151 琪琦奇祺绮麒启淇齐棋其岐崎

Hao / 141 豪浩昊皓灏淏濠

Wei / 139 伟玮威维薇蔚微炜唯纬葳为崴巍𬀩苇韦

Xiao / 136 晓小笑筱孝潇篠箫肖

Given Name Syllable Tones

List format: Tone / count

2nd / 2729

1st / 1993

4th / 1885

3rd / 1167

Single-Character Given Names (单名)

There were 948 single-character names in total. That comes out to about 22% of all 4361 names.

Top Single-Character Given Names (w/ Tones)

List format: Syllable / count All corresponding characters

Xīn / 41 鑫欣昕馨新心锌

Yáng / 29 洋扬杨阳旸炀

Yǔ / 20 宇雨禹羽瑀语

Lì / 18 丽立莉俐栎栗

Yì / 18 艺奕逸忆易毅燚羿

Yuè / 18 悦玥越月粤跃

Jié / 17 洁杰倢婕捷颉

Hào / 16 浩昊淏灏

Jìng / 14 静婧靓* 竞靖

Qiàn / 14 倩茜**

*Can be pronounced jìng or liàng. I went with jìng. **Can be pronounced qiàn or xī. I went with qiàn.

Top Single-Character Given Names (w/o Tones)

List format: Syllable / count All corresponding characters

Xin / 41 鑫欣昕馨新心锌

Yu / 31 宇雨钰煜玉瑜禹羽昱渝瑀语

Yang / 29 洋扬杨阳旸炀

Yi / 23 艺奕怡逸一忆易毅燚祎羿

Wei / 22 伟威炜维蔚薇𬀩玮

Hao / 19 浩昊豪淏灏

Jing / 19 静晶婧靓* 璟竞菁靖

Li / 19 丽立莉俐李栎栗

Ying / 19 颖莹影滢赢瀛盈

Yue / 18 悦玥越月粤跃

*Can be pronounced jìng or liàng. I went with jìng.

Single-Character Name Tones

List format: Tone / count

2nd / 308

4th / 264

1st / 253

3rd / 123

Full Name Tone Patterns for Single-Character Given Names

Look at the darker “stripes” for the 2nd tone. The 3rd tone’s low popularity also stood out to me.

List format: Tone of surname, tone of given name / count

2nd, 2nd / 140

2nd, 1st / 127

2nd, 4th / 123

1st, 2nd / 80

1st, 4th / 73

1st, 1st / 68

2nd, 3rd / 52

4th, 2nd / 45

3rd, 2nd / 43

1st, 3rd / 39

3rd, 4th / 37

4th, 4th / 31

3rd, 1st / 29

4th, 1st / 29

4th, 3rd / 17

3rd, 3rd / 15

Two-Character Given Names (双名)

Now for two-character given names. There were 3413 total (about 78%). First I will look at these given names as a whole. Then I will separately examine the 1st syllable and 2nd syllable positions.

I was very interested to see the most common name going by sound and not characters. Living in the US, I often see transliterated Chinese names with no characters in sight. This effectively “merges” names that are distinct in Chinese. All I can do is guess what the characters (and thus tones) are.

Top Two-Character Given Names (w/ Tones)

Pictured: Character combinations that occurred more than once for the top 12 two-character given names.

List format: Given name / count All corresponding character combinations

Jiāxīn / 17 嘉欣佳欣佳薪佳鑫嘉新嘉歆嘉馨

Jiāyí / 12 佳怡嘉怡佳仪嘉仪家仪家怡

Xīnyǔ / 10 心雨新宇心语欣宇欣雨鑫宇馨予

Xīnyuè / 10 馨月心玥昕玥欣悦歆玥馨悦馨玥

Hàorán / 9 浩然皓然

Jùnjié / 9 俊杰俊洁

Chénxī / 8 晨曦晨熙晨晞晨晰晨溪

Jiāqí / 8 佳琦家齐佳琪嘉琪嘉祺嘉齐

Shānshān / 8 珊珊杉杉姗姗

Xīnyí / 8 心怡欣怡心仪鑫怡

Yìwén / 8 一文奕雯艺文译文逸文

Yǔqíng / 8 雨晴语晴宇晴雨情

Top Two-Character Given Names (w/o Tones)

List format: Given name / count All corresponding character combinations

Jiaxin / 17 嘉欣佳欣佳薪佳鑫嘉新嘉歆嘉馨

Jiayi / 16 佳怡嘉怡佳仪佳依加一嘉仪嘉艺嘉谊家仪家怡家毅

Xinyu / 15 心雨欣妤新宇心妤心玉心语欣宇欣雨鑫宇馨予

Junjie / 12 俊杰军杰俊洁钧杰

Xiaoyu / 12 小雨晓玉晓钰小钰晓宇晓瑜晓雨笑语

Yifan / 12 一凡艺凡一帆一幡一璠依凡屹繁怡凡薏帆

Xinyi / 10 心怡欣怡心仪欣佚鑫一鑫怡

Xinyue / 10 馨月心玥昕玥欣悦歆玥馨悦馨玥

Yuqing / 10 雨晴语晴宇庆宇晴钰清雨情

Two-Character Given Name Tones

The grey square is due to the 3rd tone tone change rule.

List format: Tone of given name 1st syllable, tone of given name 2nd syllable / count

4th, 2nd / 560

1st, 2nd / 421

3rd, 2nd / 373

2nd, 2nd / 304

4th, 1st / 282

3rd, 1st / 191

1st, 1st / 183

2nd, 1st / 177

1st, 4th / 169

2nd, 4th / 152

1st, 3rd / 134

2nd, 3rd / 130

4th, 4th / 121

3rd, 4th / 120

4th, 3rd / 96

Full Name Tone Patterns for Two-Character Given Names

Pictured: The top 10 full name tone patterns for two-character given names.

I found these results very interesting. As I mentioned earlier, I’ve read about how using certain sequences of tones creates a pleasant-sounding flow. I had some fun saying aloud names that fit these patterns and judging the dynamic ups-and-downs of how they flow.

List format: Tone of surname, tone of given name 1st syllable, tone of given name 2nd syllable / count

2nd, 4th, 2nd / 273

2nd, 1st, 2nd / 179

2nd, 3rd, 2nd / 179

2nd, 4th, 1st / 138

1st, 4th, 2nd / 135

2nd, 2nd, 2nd / 129

1st, 3rd, 2nd / 98

2nd, 3rd, 1st / 95

2nd, 1st, 4th / 92

1st, 1st, 2nd / 89

These are only the top 10 patterns. See the bottom of the post for the full list.

Two-Character Given Names: First Syllable

Top First Syllables for Two-Character Given Names (w/ Tones)

List format: Syllable / count Corresponding characters that occurred more than once

Jiā / 171 佳嘉家加珈

Yì / 138 一艺奕逸亦翊易义懿翼译亿忆毅羿薏轶

Zǐ / 123 子梓紫

Yǔ / 115 雨宇语羽禹予

Xīn / 95 欣心馨鑫新昕歆薪芯

Xiǎo / 79 晓小筱

Jùn / 69 俊峻珺竣骏

Sī / 63 思斯

Yù / 53 玉钰煜昱郁裕喻毓育誉

Mèng / 49 梦孟

Top First Syllables for Two-Character Given Names (w/o Tones)

List format: Syllable / count Corresponding characters that occurred more than once

Yi / 201 一艺奕怡依逸亦翊伊宜易苡义乙以懿翼译亿忆毅祎羿薏轶

Yu / 188 雨宇语玉钰羽禹煜俞昱郁于渝裕予喻毓瑜育誉

Jia / 171 佳嘉家加珈

Zi / 133 子梓紫姿

Xiao / 118 晓小笑孝潇筱

Xin / 98 欣心馨鑫新昕歆信薪芯

Jun / 84 俊峻君钧军珺竣骏

Jing / 67 静婧景敬靖晶京竞

Zhi / 61 智志芷之治知祉

Si / 60 思斯

First Syllable Tones for Two-Character Given Names

List format: Tone / count

4th / 1059

1st / 907

2nd / 763

3rd / 684

Two-Character Given Names: Second Syllable

Top Second Syllables for Two-Character Given Names (w/ Tones)

List format: Syllable / count Corresponding characters that occurred more than once

Yǔ / 128 宇雨羽予语瑀禹

Qí / 100 琪琦祺奇淇齐棋麒岐

Xīn / 93 欣鑫馨昕心新歆芯

Jié / 83 杰洁婕捷

Wén / 68 文雯

Yí / 63 怡仪宜颐

Lín / 61 霖琳林麟淋

Tíng / 61 婷廷庭

Yuán / 59 源元媛圆园缘原

Yáng / 58 阳洋扬杨炀

Top Second Syllables for Two-Character Given Names (w/o Tones)

List format: Syllable / count Corresponding characters that occurred more than once

Yu / 200 宇雨玉羽瑜妤予钰语昱煜谕郁余瑀禹

Yi / 132 怡仪一毅依艺逸亦伊宜懿颐义奕意祎熠翼轶

Qi / 105 琪琦祺奇淇绮齐棋麒岐

Xin / 93 欣鑫馨昕心新歆芯

Jie / 83 杰洁婕捷

Wei / 75 伟玮薇维威微炜蔚葳崴纬

Hao / 74 豪昊浩皓濠

Jun / 72 君俊钧峻军均珺骏

Wen / 68 文雯

Yuan / 68 源元媛圆远园渊缘原

Second Syllable Tones for Two-Character Given Names

List format: Tone / count

2nd / 1658

1st / 833

4th / 562

3rd / 360

Surnames

Because the majority of the population shares a relatively small number of surnames, I decided to only look at tones.

Surname Tones

List format: Tone / count

2nd / 2047

1st / 1072

3rd / 640

4th / 602

Just take a look at the top 20 surnames in China. Clearly, the 2nd tone is dominating. There’s only one 4th tone surname!

Data Processing

I segmented the names so each character was alone. I just did this in Google Sheets, because that’s where I store the names I’ve gathered. Then I exported the data in CSV format.

I discarded names longer than 3 characters—because these are less common, I decided not to address them to make things easier for myself.

I used the pinyin library for Python to obtain pinyin for each character. I used the numerical format (ie. “ni3”) so that I could easily obtain the syllable w/o tone, the syllable w/ tone, and the tone. I also utilized pandas and numpy. This was done in Google Colabs. I made the unfortunate mistake of not commenting my code, and I wrote it a while ago, so I now I have no idea what is going on (whoops).

Next I dumped this data into a tibble in R for the real analysis.

For as many 多音字 as I could identify, I had to check and potentially fix the pinyin transcription. For example, I had to make sure that 曾 was going to zeng1, not ceng2. Honestly, I’m sure I missed something, but this was so, so tedious. This is also the step where I accounted for the 3rd tone tone change and yi 一 tone change rules.

I used a Python script to convert the toneless pinyin to my own syllable notation system. This was tricky to figure out, but fortunately I was able to use some code I already had from a project I was involved in during college.

I added the syllable info to my giant tibble in R. Because everything was separated into surname, given name 1st character, and given name 2nd character, I also had to create some new columns to combine information to get information for whole given names and full names.

Then it was basically a lot of pipes. Here’s an example: names %>% filter(nchar(names$name) > 2) %>% group_by(given_struc) %>% summarise(count = n()) %>% arrange(desc(count)) %>% view()

Bonus Lists

There were some other things I was curious about but felt didn’t have a place in the main body of this post.

I wanted to see which syllables were represented by the most unique characters in my dataset. If the number of unique characters is high, that’s a sign that I would probably have trouble guessing which character someone’s name contains.

I was also curious about open vs. closed syllables and closed syllables ending in /n/ vs. /ŋ/. For instance, take a pair of names like Yixin and Xinyi or Xinling and Lingxin. These names consist of the same syllables in a different order. I wanted to know which order is more common.

Syllables with the Most Unique Characters (w/ Tones)

List format: Syllable / count All corresponding characters

Yì / 27 一艺奕逸亦毅懿翊义易翼忆意译轶熠羿亿薏佚佾埸屹异弋怿燚翌

Qí / 15 琪琦奇祺麒淇齐棋其岐崎圻祁祈骐

Yú / 14 瑜妤俞渝于余娱愚宇*** 愉榆舆雨*** 鱼

Yù / 14 玉钰煜昱郁裕喻谕毓育誉寓浴芋

Xīn / 12 欣鑫馨心昕新歆芯薪妡忻锌

Yuán / 12 源媛元园圆缘原嫄沅湲芫袁

Líng / 11 玲灵凌翎绫伶羚铃龄苓陵

Xī / 11 希熙曦溪晞惜熹兮浠晰西

Hóng / 9 宏红弘鸿泓虹洪闳汯

Lì / 9 丽莉立力俐利俪栎栗

Zhēn / 9 珍真臻蓁祯桢榛甄贞

***3rd tone character that is pronounced as 2nd tone due to appearing before another 3rd tone character.

Syllables with the Most Unique Characters (w/o Tones)

List format: Syllable / count All corresponding characters

Yi / 45 一怡艺奕仪依逸亦伊毅宜懿翊义祎易翼苡忆意译轶颐乙以熠羿亿倚薏佚佾埸壹夷屹异弋怿沂洢燚翌谊铱

Yu / 33 宇雨玉羽钰语瑜予妤煜禹昱郁俞渝裕于喻瑀谕余娱愚毓育誉寓愉榆浴舆芋鱼

Qi / 20 琪琦奇祺绮麒启淇齐棋其岐崎圻期柒栖祁祈骐

Wei / 20 伟玮威维薇蔚微炜唯纬葳为崴巍𬀩苇韦卫惟未

Yan / 19 妍言燕彦艳岩延谚嫣琰雁晏研颜砚衍严炎焱

Yuan / 16 源媛元远园圆渊缘原嫄愿沅湲芫苑袁

Xi / 16 希熙曦汐溪晞玺喜惜熹兮浠习晰禧西

Xiao / 15 小笑筱孝潇篠箫肖宵效枭校萧霄

Yun / 15 云芸韵昀赟允匀沄筠韫妘澐蕰蕴运

Zhen / 15 振珍真臻蓁祯震镇朕桢榛甄贞轸圳

Two-Character Given Name Syllable Structures

This is the top 10 out of 14 (the bottom 4 were very rare).

List format: Structure of given name 1st syllable, structure of given name 2nd syllable — example / count

Open, open — ex: Jiayi / 821

Open, closed-n — ex: Yijin / 701

Open, closed-ng — ex: Yijing / 468

Closed-n, open — ex: Jinyi / 450

Closed-ng, open — ex: Jingyi / 308

Closed-n, closed-n — ex: Jinyan / 206

Closed-ng, closed-n — ex: Jingyan / 157

Closed-n, closed-ng — ex: Jinyang / 141

Closed-ng, closed-ng — ex: Jingyang / 139

Open, closed-er — ex: Xue'er / 14

Full Name Syllable Structures for Two-Character Given Names

This is the top 29 out of 36 (the bottom 7 were very rare).

List format: Structure of surname syllable, structure of given name 1st syllable, structure of given name 2nd syllable — example / count

Open, open, open— ex: Li Jiayi / 370

Open, open, closed-n— ex: Li Yijin / 336

Closed-ng, open, open— ex: Wang Jiayi / 273

Open, open, closed-ng— ex: Li Yijing / 228

Open, closed-n, open— ex: Li Jinyi / 225

Closed-ng, open, closed-n— ex: Wang Yijin / 223

Closed-n, open, open— ex: Chen Jiayi / 178

Closed-ng, closed-n, open— ex: Wang Jinyi / 165

Open, closed-ng, open— ex: Li Jingyi / 151

Closed-ng, open, closed-ng— ex: Wang Yijing / 146

Closed-n, open, closed-n— ex: Chen Yijin / 142

Open, closed-n, closed-n— ex: Li Jinyan / 104

Closed-ng, closed-ng, open— ex: Wang Jingyi / 97

Closed-n, open, closed-ng— ex: Chen Yijing / 94

Open, closed-ng, closed-n— ex: Li Jingyan / 86

Open, closed-ng, closed-ng— ex: Li Jingyang / 75

Open, closed-n, closed-ng— ex: Li Jinyang / 66

Closed-ng, closed-n, closed-n— ex: Wang Jinyan / 62

Closed-n, closed-n, open— ex: Chen Jinyi / 60

Closed-n, closed-ng, open— ex: Chen Jingyi / 60

Closed-ng, closed-n, closed-ng— ex: Wang Jinyang / 45

Closed-ng, closed-ng, closed-ng— ex: Wang Jingyang / 45

Closed-ng, closed-ng, closed-n— ex: Wang Jingyan / 43

Closed-n, closed-n, closed-n— ex: Chen Jinyan / 40

Closed-n, closed-n, closed-ng— ex: Chen Jinyang / 30

Closed-n, closed-ng, closed-n— ex: Chen Jingyan / 28

Closed-n, closed-ng, closed-ng— ex: Chen Jingyang / 19

Open, open, closed-er— ex: Li Xue'er / 8

Closed-ng, open, closed-er— ex: Wang Xue'er / 4

Extended List(s)

Full Name Tone Patterns for Two-Character Given Names

2nd, 4th, 2nd / 273

2nd, 1st, 2nd / 179

2nd, 3rd, 2nd / 179

2nd, 4th, 1st / 138

1st, 4th, 2nd / 135

2nd, 2nd, 2nd / 129

1st, 3rd, 2nd / 98

2nd, 3rd, 1st / 95

2nd, 1st, 4th / 92

1st, 1st, 2nd / 89

2nd, 1st, 1st / 88

2nd, 2nd, 1st / 84

3rd, 1st, 2nd / 83

3rd, 4th, 2nd / 81

1st, 2nd, 2nd / 73

4th, 4th, 2nd / 71

4th, 1st, 2nd / 70

1st, 4th, 1st / 69

2nd, 3rd, 4th / 68

2nd, 2nd, 3rd / 64

2nd, 1st, 3rd / 59

3rd, 2nd, 2nd / 59

2nd, 2nd, 4th / 56

4th, 3rd, 2nd / 56

2nd, 4th, 4th / 54

2nd, 4th, 3rd / 47

1st, 2nd, 4th / 43

4th, 2nd, 2nd / 43

1st, 1st, 3rd / 42

4th, 4th, 1st / 42

1st, 3rd, 1st / 41

3rd, 3rd, 2nd / 40

1st, 1st, 1st / 35

1st, 2nd, 1st / 35

1st, 2nd, 3rd / 35

1st, 1st, 4th / 34

4th, 1st, 1st / 34

3rd, 4th, 1st / 33

1st, 4th, 4th / 31

3rd, 2nd, 1st / 30

1st, 3rd, 4th / 29

4th, 2nd, 1st / 28

4th, 3rd, 1st / 28

3rd, 2nd, 4th / 27

3rd, 3rd, 1st / 27

3rd, 1st, 1st / 26

4th, 2nd, 4th / 26

1st, 4th, 3rd / 23

3rd, 1st, 4th / 23

3rd, 2nd, 3rd / 21

3rd, 4th, 4th / 20

4th, 1st, 4th / 20

4th, 1st, 3rd / 19

3rd, 4th, 3rd / 18

4th, 4th, 4th / 16

3rd, 1st, 3rd / 14

3rd, 3rd, 4th / 14

4th, 2nd, 3rd / 10

4th, 3rd, 4th / 9

4th, 4th, 3rd / 8

If you made it to the end, I am seriously impressed by your dedication. Thanks for checking out my nerdy ramblings about Chinese names! Don’t forget to check out my past posts on this topic for more. I hope they will help demystify Chinese names and make learning about Chinese names less intimidating.

A Closer Look at Chinese Names

Reading Chinese Names: Female Names

Reading Chinese Names: Male Names

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