Young Writers Society

I'm having trouble thinking of names. I need a good name for a female Chinese character.

Here is a link a naming site, the page I linked to tells the feminine chinese names.
It's right here.

Unless the character is from China, or parents are immigrants, you shouldn't name it a Chinese name. If the grandma is from China, but the parents are American/British/Australian/etc., and always have been, don't name it a Chinese name, name it a name that's relatively popular in that country.

Oh, and don't name it something that has the meaning of something that is related to your character's personality, or achievements, or looks. When you are born, your parents, or whoever names you, doesn't know how you will look or act like. Unless your character named themselves, stay away from those names.

Hope that helps! I hope you find a name that suits your character, without making it a name like one I talked about above.

Yeah, none of them are like that. I just needed a good name. I'm thinking about Kari (Kare-ee). Does that sound good?

Kare-ee doesn't sound very Chinese, since Chinese words usually don't end with consonants except h, t(tt), n and ng. And few Chinese names begin with r. R's would usually be subsituted with l, but that would make your character a Kelly.

I guess you might want to change the name. But if you want to let it have Western influences, by all means, go ahead. Kari sounds great.

If you want a name with a certain meaning, you could ask me too.

Okay. The characters do live in America.

http://www.behindthename.com/nmc/chi_f.php


"The names listed here are used in China. Note that depending on the Chinese characters used these names can have many other meanings besides those listed here.
AH 阿 m & f Chinese
From the Chinese character 阿 which has no distinct meaning... [more]

AI (2) 爱, 蔼 f Chinese
From Chinese 爱 "love, affection" or 蔼 "friendly".

BAI 白, 百, 柏 m & f Chinese
From Chinese 白 "white, pure", 百 "one hundred, many" or 柏 "cypress" (which is usually only masculine).

BAO (1) 宝, 褒, 苞 m & f Chinese
From Chinese 宝 "treasure, precious", 褒 "praise" or 苞 "bud" (which is usually only feminine).

BO (2) 波 m & f Chinese
Means "wave" in Chinese.

CHANG 昌, 畅, 长 m & f Chinese
From Chinese 昌 "flourishing, prosperous" (which is usually only masculine), 畅 "smooth, fluent" or 长 "long".

CHEN 晨, 辰 m & f Chinese
From Chinese 晨 or 辰 which both mean "morning".

CHENG 成, 诚 m & f Chinese
From Chinese 成 "accomplish, succeed" or 诚 "sincere".

CHIN m & f Chinese
Variant of JIN (1) (using Wade-Giles transcription).

CHUN 春 f & m Chinese
Means "spring" in Chinese.

FEN 芬 f Chinese
Means "fragrance" in Chinese.

FU 富, 芙 m & f Chinese
From Chinese 富 "wealthy" or 芙 "lotus".

GUO 国 m & f Chinese
Means "country" in Chinese.

HAI 海 m & f Chinese
Means "sea" in Chinese.

HE 河, 荷 f & m Chinese
From Chinese 河 "river" or 荷 "lotus" (which is usually only feminine).

HENG 恒 m & f Chinese
Means "permanent, constant" in Chinese.

HUA 华, 花 f & m Chinese
From Chinese 华 "magnificent, Chinese" or 花 "flower" (which is usually only feminine).

HUAN 欢 f & m Chinese
Means "happy, joyous" in Chinese.

HUI 慧 f Chinese
Means "intelligent, wise" in Chinese.

JIA 佳, 家 m & f Chinese
From Chinese 佳 "good, fine" or 家 "home, family".

JIAN 建, 健 m & f Chinese
From Chinese 建 "build" or 健 "strong, healthy".

JIANG 江 m & f Chinese
Means "river" in Chinese.

JIN (1) 金, 锦, 津 m & f Chinese
From Chinese 金 "gold, metal, money", 锦 "embroidered, bright" or 津 "ferry".

JING 精, 晶, 京 m & f Chinese
From Chinese 精 "essence, perfect", 晶 "clear, crystal" or 京 "capital city".

JU 菊 f Chinese
Means "chrysanthemum" in Chinese.

JUN 君, 俊, 军 m & f Chinese
From Chinese 君 "ruler, supreme", 俊 "talented" (which is usually only masculine) or 军 "army" (also usually only masculine).

KUN 坤 m & f Chinese
Means "earth" in Chinese.

LAN 兰 f Chinese, Vietnamese
From Chinese 兰 "orchid"... [more]

LI 理, 立, 黎, 力, 丽 f & m Chinese
From Chinese 理 "reason, logic", 立 "stand", 黎 "dawn, black", 力 "strength, power" (which is usually only masculine) or 丽 "beautiful" (usually only feminine).

LIM m & f Chinese
Hokkien Chinese form of LIN

LIN 林, 琳 m & f Chinese
From Chinese 林 "forest" or 琳 "fine jade, gem".

LING 灵, 铃 f & m Chinese
From Chinese 灵 "alert, quick" or 铃 "bell, chime".

MEI (1) 美, 梅 f Chinese
From Chinese 美 "beautiful" or 梅 "plum".

MIN 敏 f & m Chinese
Means "clever, sharp" in Chinese.

MING 明, 铭 m & f Chinese
From Chinese 明 "shining, bright, clear" or 铭 "engrave".

MU 慕, 木 m & f Chinese
From Chinese 慕 "admire" or 木 "wood".

NING 宁 f & m Chinese
Means "peaceful, tranquil" in Chinese.

NUAN 暖 f Chinese
Means "warm, genial" in Chinese.

NUO 娜 f Chinese
Means "graceful" in Chinese.

PING 平 m & f Chinese
Means "peaceful, level" in Chinese.

QING 青 f & m Chinese
Means "greenish blue" in Chinese.

QIU 秋 m & f Chinese
Means "autumn" in Chinese.

RONG 荣, 融, 容 f & m Chinese
From Chinese 荣 "flourish", 融 "harmonious" or 容 "to hold, to tolerate" (which is usually only feminine).

RU 儒, 如 m & f Chinese
From Chinese 儒 "scholar" or 如 "like, as, if".

SHI 时, 实, 史 m & f Chinese
From Chinese 时 "time", 实 "real, honest" or 史 "history".

SHU 淑 f Chinese
Means "kind, gentle" in Chinese.

SHUI 水 m & f Chinese
Means "water" in Chinese.

SHUN (1) 顺 f & m Chinese
Means "smooth, agreeable" in Chinese.

SU (2) 素, 肃, 肅 m & f Chinese
From Chinese 素 "plain", or else 肃 or 肅 which both mean "respectful".

TAI 太 m & f Chinese
Means "great, extreme" in Chinese.

TU (1) 图 m & f Chinese
Means "chart, map" in Chinese.

WEN 文 m & f Chinese
Means "culture, literacy" in Chinese.

WU 武, 务 m & f Chinese
From Chinese 武 "military, martial" (which is generally only masculine) or 务 "affairs, business"... [more]

XIANG 翔, 祥, 香, 湘 m & f Chinese
From Chinese 翔 "to soar", 祥 "auspicious, lucky" or 香 "fragrant" (which is usually only feminine)... [more]

XIU 秀 f Chinese
Means "beautiful, elegant" in Chinese.

XUE 雪, 学 f & m Chinese
From Chinese 雪 "snow" or 学 "study, learning".

XUN 迅 m & f Chinese
Means "fast, sudden" in Chinese.

YA 雅 f Chinese
Means "elegant" in Chinese.

YI 宜, 义, 益, 怡, 仪 f & m Chinese
From Chinese 宜 "suitable", 义 "justice", 益 "profit", 怡 "joy, harmony" (which is usually only feminine) or 仪 "ceremony" (also usually only feminine) .

YIN 银, 音, 荫 f Chinese
From Chinese 银 "silver", 音 "sound" or 荫 "shade".

YONG 勇, 永 m & f Chinese, Korean
From Chinese 勇 "brave" or 永 "perpetual"... [more]

YU 玉, 愉, 雨 f & m Chinese
From Chinese 玉 "jade", 愉 "happy, pleased" or 雨 "rain".

YUN 云 f & m Chinese
Means "cloud" in Chinese.

ZAN 赞 f & m Chinese
Means "support, favour" in Chinese.

ZHEN 珍, 真, 貞 f Chinese
From Chinese 珍 "precious, rare", 真 "real, true" or 貞 "chaste, pure".

ZHENG 正, 政 m & f Chinese
From Chinese 正 "just, proper" or 政 "government".

ZHI 志, 智 m & f Chinese
From Chinese 志 "will, purpose" or 智 "wisdom, knowledge".

ZHONG 忠, 中 m & f Chinese
From Chinese 忠 "loyal" or 中 "middle".

ZHOU 舟 m & f Chinese
Means "boat" in Chinese. "

--from the website

Kari is a pretty good name, but its more like an American name of an old lady:) you could try Kairi, but that's Japanese. Lia, Rin, Kai, are all good chinese American names, but if your looking for some hard core chinese names, try getting a hold of a website with news on the country and look at the names there. (newspapers are really good sources for names.) oh, and look in manga and anime, i know their from japan, but most readers don't know the difference and their names are a lot easier to find and sound pretty cool.

Go to the Writing Tips thread and go to 'The Ultimate 'I need a name' place'. It should be towards the top. There are tons of great sites there and I know a couple have Chinese names.

-Carly

Ling-Su is a nice chinese name. Its simple and beautiful.