雅思口语干货案例分享-Chinese names

A Chinese name starts with the family name, followed by the given name.

We avoid the name, but do not avoid the surname. The surname is common; the name is peculiar. --Mencius (372-2 B.C.)

China's huge population shares a great deal of surnames. According to the ancient Chinese documents, they ranged from 300 to 3000. But most specialists in this field agree that the most common Chinese surnames number some 500.

Chinese people always attach great importance to the choice of given names. A name functioned far more than just a code for every specific person. In the past, when elders named a new born baby, they took several factors into consideration: the astrological principles, the birth date and time, the array of five elements (metal, wood, water, fire, and earth), the written form, pronunciation, and meaning of name. Now superstition being lessened and constraints reduced, there are still some rules of thumb to be followed.

敷,系,贴,附加,隶属,使…依恋 Attach: vt.①缚，系; Attach this label to your luggage. 把这个签条系在你的行李上. ②隶属，附在…，添加; The normal school has a primary school attached to it.这所师范学校有附属小学一所. Attach the document to the letter.把文件附在信里. ③认为…具有…(~ sth to sth); Do you attach much importance to what he says? 你认为他的话很重要吗? ④喜爱，依恋; ⑤【法】逮捕，查封; His salary was ~ed.他的工资被扣发了. 附属；归于；相连(to);No blame (guilt) attaches to him for the accident.并没有将事故归咎(罪)于他. Great responsibilities attach to power and position.有权力有地位，就要负重大责任. As a rule, names are not repeated from one generation to the next. Children are not named after parents, grandparents, uncles, aunts and any older family relative.

Another name taboo forbade naming a child after a hero or too famous a person (both renowned or notorious), e.g. names of emperors, names of presidents, because this was considered presumptuous and disrespectful. The way to get around it is to select just one of the characters in

that famous person's name for a namesake. Like parents everywhere, Chinese parents may hope that by choosing such a name, some of the qualities that led to such fame or wealth or power will rub off on their child.

Some traditional families even name their children according to birth order - the word Three can be a name, e.g. in the name Zhang San, Zhang is family name and San (means three) is the given name. Interestingly, I notice that in Star Trek: Voyager there is a girl called ‘Seven'.

Despite these name taboos, the Chinese have been quite creative in their selection of given names. This is because they compose their given names, taking words from the common written language; words deemed suitable for names. Over the centuries, the popular practice of having two characters for a given name has enable them to avoid the repetition of names among family members and celebrated names in history. Thus, in contrast to the limited number of Chinese family names, there are a seemingly limitless number of Chinese given names.

Western names

Compared to Chinese Name customs, western names seem just the opposite. Firstly, the name order is that given names are followed by family names.

Given names for western people are less important than for Chinese people. Parents often name their child after an elder relative, father, grandfather, uncle, for instance, or a hero, or a famous person. Therefore, there are a limited number of western given names, and they are less creative and are lacking distinctiveness.

Brenda & Dory Our children's names

Our daughters have both Chinese and English names.

We named their English names using western customs. Our first daughter's name is Brenda, after the company her daddy was working for when she was born, Saint brendan's Irish cream liqueur Co. Ltd. Our second daughter's name is Dory, after the blue lady fish in Brenda's favorite cartoon Finding Nemo, because I like her optimistic and easygoing characteristic and hope Dory could have some of them.

Brenda's Chinese name is Buyi (means cotton dress or ordinary people). We hope her being simple and ordinary since we believe that an ordinary life is a happy life. She may study when she oughts to, work when she oughts to, marry and have babies when she is supposed to. She doesn't have to be goodlooking, smart, wealthy or marry wealthy people, in order to live happily.

Dory's Chinese name is Rihong (means sun and rainbow). We consider more on the astrological principles, the birth year (her animal zodiac is rat), the array of five elements, the written form, and pronunciation, than meaning of name. Hence, her name is less eccentric than Buyi, according to her grandparents' opinion.