Translating your name into Chinese? Read this first.
Translation apps such as Google Translate are built for sentences, and they are very good at them. A name is a different job: to a dictionary, jack is 千斤顶, the jack that lifts a car. Here is what can go wrong, and how English names are really written in Chinese.
Word for word
qiānjīndǐng · a car jack
杰克
Jié kè · how Chinese readers write Jack
See your name written properly, free:
What a dictionary says, and what the name is.
Every name below is also an English word, so a word-for-word tool can return the word. The right-hand column is the standard way Chinese writes the name.
| Name | The word | The name |
|---|---|---|
| Jack | 千斤顶a car jack | Jié kè |
| Sue | 起诉to take to court | 苏Sū |
| Rob | 抢劫to rob, robbery | 罗布Luó bù |
| Bill | 账单an invoice | 比尔Bǐ ěr |
| Max | 最大值maximum value | Mǎ kè sī |
| Miles | 英里miles, the distance | 迈尔斯Mài ěr sī |
| Frank | 坦率candid | Fú lán kè |
| Mark | 标记a mark, a label | Mǎ kè |
| Ray | 射线a ray, as in X-ray | Léi |
| Gene | 基因a gene | 吉恩Jí ēn |
| Grace | 优雅elegance | Gé lěi sī |
| Rose | 玫瑰the flower | Lù sī |
| Ruby | 红宝石the gemstone | Lù bǐ |
| Summer | 夏天summertime | 萨默Sà mò |
| Hope | 希望hope | 霍普Huò pǔ |
| Penny | 便士a penny coin | 彭妮Péng nī |
Five ways a translated name can fail.
It translates the word, not the name
Names that are also English words can come back as their dictionary meaning. A Chinese reader sees a car jack, a lawsuit or an invoice, not a person.
It matches the sound and ignores the meaning
Every syllable has dozens of characters. Pick by sound alone and you can land on death, waste or slang. Chinese names are chosen character by character for both.
It cannot tell a man's name from a woman's
Characters carry gender. Danielle is 丹妮尔 with 妮, a girl's character; Daniel is 丹尼尔. A tool that drops the difference gives you the wrong one half the time.
It may hand you someone else's name
Translation apps learned from real text, which is full of famous people. In 2017 a man in Hong Kong had a tattoo meant to say Emily that read 刘慧卿, the Chinese name of politician Emily Lau, reportedly taken from Google Translate's alternative translations.
Nobody checks it before it is permanent
There is no fluent reader between the app and the needle. On paper a slip is a joke; on skin it is a cover-up appointment.
Source for the Emily tattoo: Hong Kong Free Press, 30 August 2017 ↗
Why sound alone is not enough.
Each pair sounds alike, and transliteration ignores tones. Names use the character on top; a sound-only tool has no reason to prefer it.
si
斯refined; used in many namesshi
诗poetryfei
菲fragrant grassji
吉lucky
Two correct ways to write your name.
Every name in our library is written by hand both ways, with every character explained.
Wéi duō lì yà
Victoria as Chinese books and newspapers write it: neutral characters chosen for sound. Instantly recognisable as your name.
Wèi rán
Shorter, like a real Chinese given name, and chosen for meaning: a Chinese-style name meaning flourishing and splendid.
Does your Chinese name match your birth chart?
In Chinese astrology, the moment you were born forms your birth chart, which the tradition reads for your work, your love life and the years ahead. A Chinese name is traditionally chosen to bring in the elements your chart needs.
Your free reading shows your chart in 30 seconds. The full report ($29) reads your Chinese name against it and adds three names chosen for your elements.
Every Chinese name carries elements. 莎拉 carries Wood and Fire: lucky for a Sarah whose birth chart needs Wood or Fire, less so for one whose chart needs Earth, Metal or Water.
Find out which elements your chart needs →Questions
Is Google Translate accurate for names in Chinese?
It is very good with sentences, but names are not what it is built for. Translation tools work out meaning, so a name that is also a word (Jack, Sue, Grace, Rose) can come back as the word. Names that are not words get a sound-alike, but with no check on meaning, gender or whether a Chinese reader would recognise it as a name.
How are English names actually written in Chinese?
Most well-known names have a standard transliteration that Chinese newspapers and books use, for example Jack 杰克, Mark 马克 and Victoria 维多利亚. These use a small set of characters chosen to sound right and read neutrally. Many people also choose a shorter Chinese-style name with a meaning, such as 杰宇 for Jack.
Should I use the transliteration or a Chinese-style name for a tattoo?
The transliteration is your name as Chinese readers know it. A two-character Chinese-style name looks like a real given name and carries a meaning you chose. Both are correct; our name pages show both, character by character.
How can I check a Chinese tattoo before I get it?
Know what every character means on its own, make sure the whole reads as a name, and show the final stencil to a fluent reader. Keep the exact file you checked and give that file to your artist, so nothing is retyped.