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linghxr · 4 years

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Reading Chinese Names: Male Names

Part 2 of Reading Chinese Names, click here to see part 1 on female names!

In this part, I compiled a list of over 1000 Chinese male names which combined consisted on 579 unique characters. These names came from participants on idol survival shows and other singers and actors. I did my best to remove duplicate individuals and not include stage names that are not authentic Chinese names (like 奥斯卡). A lot of performers go by stage names that sound authentic or have changed their legal name–I included these. I separated the names into individual characters and then counted how many times each character occurred. Note that these data are not necessarily representative of the overall populations of China and Taiwan. However, I think this info is still valuable.

Below I have the top 82 characters, aka those that were found at least 5 times. I’ve included all the counts for those who may be interested. Characters also found on the females names list are bolded.

宇 yǔ - room, universe / 28

子 zǐ - son, child, seed, egg, small thing / 24

杰 jié - hero, heroic, outstanding person, prominent, distinguished / 24

文 wén - language, culture, writing, formal, literary, gentle / 23

豪 háo - grand, heroic / 21

俊 jùn - smart, eminent, handsome, talented / 20

泽 zé - pool, pond, (of metals etc) luster, favor or beneficence, damp, moist / 20

一 yī - one, 1, single, a (article), as soon as, entire, whole, all, throughout / 19

明 míng - bright, clear, to understand, wise / 18

博 bó - extensive, ample, rich, obtain, aim, to win, to get, plentiful / 16

天 tiān - day, sky, heaven / 16

浩 hào - grand, vast (water) / 15

嘉 jiā - excellent, auspicious, to praise, to commend / 14

晨 chén - morning, dawn, daybreak / 14

超 chāo - to exceed, to overtake, to surpass, to transcend, to pass, to cross, super / 14

轩 xuān - pavilion with a view, high, tall / 12

鑫 xīn - (used in names of people and shops, symbolizing prosperity) / 11

铭 míng - to engrave, inscribed motto / 11

龙 lóng - dragon, imperial / 11

东 dōng - east / 10

凯 kǎi - triumphant, victorious / 10

旭 xù - dawn, rising sun / 10

昊 hào - vast and limitless, the vast sky / 10

然 rán - correct, right, so, thus, like this / 10

宁 níng - peaceful, to pacify / 9

伟 wěi - big, large, great / 8

成 chéng - to succeed, to finish, to complete, to accomplish, to become, to turn into / 8

梓 zǐ - Catalpa kaempferi (type of tree), printing blocks / 8

正 zhèng - straight, upright, proper, main, principal, to correct, to rectify, exactly / 8

艺 yì - skill, art / 8

辉 huī - splendor, to shine upon / 8

辰 chén - 5th earthly branch, 3rd solar month, year of the Dragon, ancient Chinese compass point / 8

雨 yǔ - rain / 8

霖 lín - continued rain / 8

健 jiàn - healthy, to invigorate, to strengthen, to be good at, to be strong in / 7

哲 zhé - wise, a sage / 7

思 sī - to think, to consider / 7

星 xīng - star, heavenly body / 7

柏 bó/bǎi - cedar, cypress / 7

翔 xiáng - to soar, to glide / 7

钧 jūn - great / 7

阳 yáng - sun / 7

飞 fēi - to fly / 7

鹏 péng - large fabulous bird / 7

凡 fán - ordinary, commonplace, mundane, temporal, of the material world, every, all, whatever, altogether, gist, outline, note of Chinese musical scale / 6

卓 zhuó - outstanding / 6

彦 yàn - accomplished, elegant / 6

彬 bīn - ornamental, refined / 6

志 zhì - aspiration, ambition, the will / 6

恩 ēn - favor, grace, kindness / 6

振 zhèn - to shake, to flap, to vibrate, to resonate, to rise up with spirit, to rouse oneself / 6

昱 yù - bright light / 6

楚 chǔ - distinct, clear, orderly / 6

毅 yì - firm and resolute, staunch / 6

波 bō - wave, ripple, storm, surge / 6

海 hǎi - ocean, sea / 6

源 yuán - root, source, origin / 6

羽 yǔ - feather, 5th note in pentatonic scale / 6

航 háng - boat, ship, craft, to navigate, to sail, to fly / 6

远 yuǎn - far, distant, remote, by far / 6

逸 yì - to escape, leisurely, outstanding / 6

亚 yà - second, next to, Asia / 5

亮 liàng - bright, clear, resonant, to shine, to show, to reveal / 5

伦 lún - human relationship, order, coherence / 5

剑 jiàn - double-edged sword / 5

华 huá - magnificent, splendid, flowery / 5

国 guó - country, nation, state, national / 5

峰 fēng - high and tapered peak or summit, mountain-like in appearance, highest level / 5

帆 fān - sail / 5

希 xī - to hope, to admire / 5

庆 qìng - to celebrate / 5

承 chéng - to bear, to carry, to hold, to continue, to undertake, to take charge, owing to, due to, to receive / 5

斌 bīn - ornamental, refined / 5

新 xīn - new / 5

晓 xiǎo - dawn, daybreak, to know, to let sb know, to make explicit / 5

林 lín - woods, forest / 5

涛 tāo - big wave / 5

睿 ruì - astute, perspicacious, farsighted / 5

磊 lěi - lumpy, rock pile, uneven, fig. sincere, open and honest / 5

禹 yǔ - Yu the Great (c. 21st century BC), mythical leader who tamed the floods / 5

耀 yào - brilliant, glorious / 5

聪 cōng - wise, clever, sharp-witted, intelligent, acute, quick at hearing / 5

For practice, here are some example names of male celebrities/idols that only use characters from above:

周杰伦 Zhōu Jiélún

王一博 Wáng Yībó

华晨宇 Huá Chényǔ

胡彦斌 Hú Yànbīn

王俊凯 Wáng Jùnkǎi

朱一龙 Zhū Yīlóng

马天宇 Mǎ Tiānyǔ

王源 Wáng Yuán

刘耀文 Liú Yàowén

黄明昊 Huáng Mínghào

徐明浩 Xú Mínghào

任豪 Rèn Háo

宋亚轩 Sòng Yàxuān

李振宁 Lǐ Zhènníng

Hopefully this helps you learn more about Chinese names! It is hard to guess the gender of someone based on their name, but these lists can help provide some hints. Still you can never be 100% sure–some women have names that are more typically male and vice versa. Many names are also very unisex, like mine, which has one character from this list, one from the female one.

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