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That's interesting, I thought the given name in Chinese was almost always two characters. Is this not the case? 我是中文学生 :) Funnily the first thing you learn in

by midhir 7y ago

That's interesting, I thought the given name in Chinese was almost always two characters. Is this not the case? 我是中文学生 :) Funnily the first thing you learn in Chinese is how to say who you are. But there's very little help with actually picking a Chinese name!

cbhl 7y ago
given name != surname surname = "last" name = family name
headsupftw 7y ago
"I thought the given name in Chinese was almost always two characters. Is this not the case?" Not at all. Nowadays there are hundreds of millions of people in Mainland China with a single-character given name. Case in point: former tennis player Li Na, former basketball player Yao Ming. I say "Mainland China" because I notice people from Hongkong and Taiwan have mostly two-character given names.
ksec 7y ago
>I thought the given name in Chinese was almost always two characters. Is this not the case? Mostly in Old, Traditional or Southern part of China.
- seanmcdirmid 7y ago
  When was the last time mainland China had a leader with a one character given name? But ya, it is a matter of preference.
  - dis-sys 7y ago
    > When was the last time mainland China had a leader with a one character given name? The person commonly known as Sun Yat-sen in the west. His given name is 文, he used it to sign all official documents.
    - seanmcdirmid 7y ago
      Crazy that 中山 was his Japanese name....
z2 7y ago
As others have alluded to--here's an explanation for _a good portion_ of the people who have two character given names. The first character of the given name is defined by ancestors, generations ago in a poem. Each subsequent generation uses the next character of that poem. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Generation_name https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Generation_name This stopped for much of the mainland in the last century due to a few revolutions that happened there.
gibolt 7y ago
One character names are quite common, but 3+ character names exist also, especially for ethnic minorities. This applies to given and surnames. Any 'always' cases with names are never to be trusted. https://www.kalzumeus.com/2010/06/17/falsehoods-programmers-believe-about-names/ https://www.kalzumeus.com/2010/06/17/falsehoods-programmers-...
sohkamyung 7y ago
It's not for Malaysian born Chinese. We usually have three names. For example, mine is SOH Kam Yung: SOH - family name Kam - 'generational' name (same as for my brothers) Yung - my given name For simplicity, I usually add a hyphen (Kam-Yung) in my name to make it easier for people to refer to me in non-formal settings, i.e. I should be called "Kam Yung" or "Mr. Soh". Calling me "Kam" (it has happened) is nonsensical from my point of view.
- donpark 7y ago
  Same for Koreans. Capitalizing the first character of the 'generational' name and lowercase for given name could work. But I think emphasizing the given name offers better UX so given name should be all caps and family name should be all lowercase like this: YUNG Kam soh or soh Kam YUNG.
  - Freak_NL 7y ago
    > But I think emphasizing the given name offers better UX […] How? You are introducing a custom capitalization convention nobody uses. People expect the UPPERCASED name, if present, to be the surname (or whatever you can sensible put after Mr/Ms). Going against strong conventions is not a good user experience.
- Double_a_92 7y ago
  > Calling me "Kam" (it has happened) is nonsensical from my point of view. Would just Yung be ok?
  - sohkamyung 7y ago
    > Would just Yung be ok? For me, that's only for family members and very close friends. :-) It's like a personal nickname that you feel comfortable with if only a close circle of people use.
ardy42 7y ago
> That's interesting, I thought the given name in Chinese was almost always two characters. Is this not the case? It depends, I think. I don't know about all of China, but in some places they alternate the length of the given name by generation (e.g. if you have a two-character given name, you give your children a one-character name, and vice versa).

by midhir 7y ago

cbhl 7y ago

given name != surname surname = "last" name = family name

headsupftw 7y ago

"I thought the given name in Chinese was almost always two characters. Is this not the case?" Not at all. Nowadays there are hundreds of millions of people in Mainland China with a single-character given name. Case in point: former tennis player Li Na, former basketball player Yao Ming. I say "Mainland China" because I notice people from Hongkong and Taiwan have mostly two-character given names.

ksec 7y ago

>I thought the given name in Chinese was almost always two characters. Is this not the case? Mostly in Old, Traditional or Southern part of China.

seanmcdirmid 7y ago
When was the last time mainland China had a leader with a one character given name? But ya, it is a matter of preference.
- dis-sys 7y ago
  > When was the last time mainland China had a leader with a one character given name? The person commonly known as Sun Yat-sen in the west. His given name is 文, he used it to sign all official documents.
  - seanmcdirmid 7y ago
    Crazy that 中山 was his Japanese name....

z2 7y ago

As others have alluded to--here's an explanation for _a good portion_ of the people who have two character given names. The first character of the given name is defined by ancestors, generations ago in a poem. Each subsequent generation uses the next character of that poem. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Generation_name https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Generation_name This stopped for much of the mainland in the last century due to a few revolutions that happened there.

gibolt 7y ago

One character names are quite common, but 3+ character names exist also, especially for ethnic minorities. This applies to given and surnames. Any 'always' cases with names are never to be trusted. https://www.kalzumeus.com/2010/06/17/falsehoods-programmers-believe-about-names/ https://www.kalzumeus.com/2010/06/17/falsehoods-programmers-...

sohkamyung 7y ago

It's not for Malaysian born Chinese. We usually have three names. For example, mine is SOH Kam Yung: SOH - family name Kam - 'generational' name (same as for my brothers) Yung - my given name For simplicity, I usually add a hyphen (Kam-Yung) in my name to make it easier for people to refer to me in non-formal settings, i.e. I should be called "Kam Yung" or "Mr. Soh". Calling me "Kam" (it has happened) is nonsensical from my point of view.

donpark 7y ago
Same for Koreans. Capitalizing the first character of the 'generational' name and lowercase for given name could work. But I think emphasizing the given name offers better UX so given name should be all caps and family name should be all lowercase like this: YUNG Kam soh or soh Kam YUNG.
- Freak_NL 7y ago
  > But I think emphasizing the given name offers better UX […] How? You are introducing a custom capitalization convention nobody uses. People expect the UPPERCASED name, if present, to be the surname (or whatever you can sensible put after Mr/Ms). Going against strong conventions is not a good user experience.
Double_a_92 7y ago
> Calling me "Kam" (it has happened) is nonsensical from my point of view. Would just Yung be ok?
- sohkamyung 7y ago
  > Would just Yung be ok? For me, that's only for family members and very close friends. :-) It's like a personal nickname that you feel comfortable with if only a close circle of people use.

ardy42 7y ago

> That's interesting, I thought the given name in Chinese was almost always two characters. Is this not the case? It depends, I think. I don't know about all of China, but in some places they alternate the length of the given name by generation (e.g. if you have a two-character given name, you give your children a one-character name, and vice versa).