The Western world would name their
children from a list of established names such as
Peter, François,
Günther,
Carlos, or Antonio. The Chinese on the other hand could
create unique names by choosing characters from a vast
selection of vocabulary that gives meanings. It is like
being able to create a name for your children or
yourself by choosing any word from the vocabulary.
In the Chinese language there is a wide
choice of words that could be coined as names, though in
practice some words are used more often than others.
Other than inherited surname, it is an art to choose
suitable and meaningful words as names.
Embedded in most Chinese names are the
parents aspirations and hopes for their children. Since
a person is addressed by his name throughout his life,
whether he or she likes it or not, his identity, his
perceived personality (until others know him well) are
consciously or subconsciously implicated or associated
with his name.
You can find out what
your Chinese name (or that of your friend)
means. As there are several word that
sound the same, you need to identify the
precise Chinese character.
Click on a alphabet according to how the word is spelt,
choose the exact character (The characters are displayed
in both simplified and traditional forms).
Not
all Chinese could be displayed in the web-page. More
information is found in Chapter 2.
