Travel Tips

Names

A Chinese name is composed of a surname and a given name, and the given name comes after the surname. For example, Li Zhiguo, Li is the surname, and Zhiguo is the given name. The surname may consist of one Chinese character or two, so does the given name. When a baby is born, he may follow the surname of his father or mother. But a given name is very optional.

Surnames originate from the ancient times and are passed down one generation after one generation. The source of surnames is diverse. They may use a name of a kingdom established by their forefathers, official status, titular ranks, professions, or even names of their ancestors. As people deeply worshiped of animals, the names of animals are also taken as surnames. There are also some other ways, like using a name of dwelling's place, a tree etc.

In China, there are about 4100 surnames, but only over 200 surnames are commonly used. Wang, Li and Zhang are the top three popular surnames in China, and people using the three surnames amounts to about 27,000,000. Wang is most popular and the number of people with Wang as their surname accounts for 7.25 percent of China's total population.

The given name conveys rich connotation. The given name shouldn't contain the same character or a homophone that his forefather have in their names. The names for boys are intended to show masculine physique, while the names for girls fully display charm and effeminacy. The names may express the hope of the parents, and may indicate the place, the time or natural phenomena when a baby was born.