Chinese name tattoo
A Chinese tattoo is forever, and the internet is full of ones that say nothing, or the wrong thing. Start here with a name that is actually a name: a surname and a given name with meaning, in characters a Chinese reader recognises. Choose the script, pick the width on skin, and the tattoo pack gives you a stencil PDF that prints at real size, mockups on forearm, collarbone and nape, and a certificate of meaning that lists every character, its reading and its sense, for your artist and any Chinese reader to confirm. Show the certificate to your artist; keep it for the day someone asks what it says.
Already have a Chinese name?
Choose how it is written
Pick a collection and we write in it; the first piece is written now, free. The pictures below are samples of 诸葛亮 Zhuge Liang. Yours carry your own characters.
Write in this collection
The first piece is written now in your own characters, free. Unlock the rest when you like it.
Simplified is standard in mainland China; traditional in Hong Kong, Taiwan and most tattoo studios. The seals use seal script, which predates the split.
Why Chinese tattoos go wrong
A Chinese tattoo usually goes wrong before it reaches the studio: the design is wrong, and the artist copies it faithfully. Four causes account for most of the photos people share.
Machine transliteration. A translator turns your name into characters chosen for sound, the way a newspaper prints a foreign name. The result is correct and nobody is called it; to a Chinese reader it reads as a label, not a name.
A font that is not a script. Free “Chinese-style” fonts and letter-for-letter “Chinese alphabet” charts produce shapes that look Chinese and are not characters, or near-misses of real ones. Even a correct font is still type, and reads on skin like a name in Times New Roman.
Mirrored or missing strokes. A stencil flipped in transfer reverses every character. A dropped dot changes the character: 太 (tài, too much) without its dot is 大 (dà, big).
Characters that are words. 爱 (ài, love) and 力 (lì, strength) are correct Chinese and read like a poster. Two harmless characters can also make a phrase with a meaning of its own.
Our guide to Chinese tattoo mistakes has the full checklist.
A name for Olivia, not 奥利维亚
The transliteration of Olivia is 奥利维亚 (Àolìwéiyà): four characters picked for sound, meaning roughly “mysterious, profit, maintain, Asia”. It is how Olivia is printed in a Chinese newspaper, and on an arm it marks the wearer as someone who typed her name into a translator.
A name of the kind the name generator proposes for Olivia Shaw. 邵 (shào) is a surname from the Hundred Family Surnames and echoes Shaw; 怡 (yí) means joyful, at ease; 然 (rán) means so, in this way. 怡然 together means contented and at peace with oneself, a nod to the olive branch in Olivia without spelling it out. It is three characters, as most Chinese names are, and a Chinese reader sees a woman’s name.
Many people tattoo only the given name, 怡然, which is what friends would call her. Both are correct; four or more characters for one name usually means a transliteration.
The stencil, the layout and the script
A real-size stencil is a print of the design at exactly the width it will be on skin, so the artist transfers it without rescaling. Ours is an A4 PDF. Page one is the filled design at the width you set, with a centimetre ruler and the pinyin printed beside it. Page two is the outline for a thermal stencil, plus a mirrored outline for transfer methods that need it. The artist prints at 100%, checks the ruler, transfers the outline, and compares the result on skin with page one before starting.
Vertical or horizontal
Chinese can be written in a column read top to bottom, or in a line read left to right. A column suits the spine, the inner forearm and the back of the neck; a line suits the collarbone, the wrist and the ribs. Do not turn a horizontal design on its side to fit a vertical spot: each character must stand upright, so the characters are restacked, not rotated.
Which script artists ask for
Artists want solid strokes that hold a line for years, which is why running script (行书, xíngshū) and clerical script (隶书, lìshū) are the usual choices: both stay legible at about two centimetres per character. Seal script needs three or more, and cursive is hard to read even for Chinese readers. The calligraphy generator shows your name in all four before you choose.
What the certificate of meaning is for
The certificate of meaning is a one-page record of what the tattoo says: every character, its pinyin and its meaning. It gives the artist something to check stroke by stroke, lets any Chinese reader confirm the name in a minute, and answers the question you will be asked for the rest of your life.
How it works
Find a real Chinese name, or type the one you have. Read the meaning of every character.
See it written in the four scripts and pick the one you want on skin.
Set the width in centimetres. The tattoo pack gives you the real-size stencil, mockups and the certificate of meaning.
Questions
How do I know the Chinese characters for my tattoo are right?
Names are proposed by a language model within our naming rules (a real surname, common characters, no awkward homophones) and scored by a second, independent model before anything is written. The free name checker reads a name back the way a Chinese reader would. Before the needle, ask a Chinese friend to read it cold; they are the final word.
Should I get my name transliterated into Chinese for a tattoo?
Usually not. A transliteration such as 奥利维亚 for Olivia uses characters chosen only for sound; it is correct, but no one is called it, and a Chinese reader sees a foreign label. A real Chinese name, a surname and a given name with meaning, reads as a name.
Which Chinese script is best for a tattoo?
Running script and clerical script read clearly at small sizes and hold solid lines, so most artists prefer them. Seal script looks ancient but is the least legible and needs to be larger. Cursive is beautiful and hard to read even for Chinese speakers.
How big should a Chinese name tattoo be?
Running and clerical script stay readable at about two centimetres per character, so a three-character name in a column is around six to seven centimetres tall. Seal script needs three centimetres or more per character. Fine strokes spread over the years, so avoid hairline detail below that.
Can my tattoo artist use the stencil directly?
Yes. The stencil PDF prints at the exact width you choose, with a centimetre ruler on the page so the artist can check the size before transfer. Print it at 100% scale, not fit to page. It includes an outline for thermal stencils and a mirrored outline for methods that need one.
Can I have traditional characters on my tattoo?
Yes. Switch Characters to Traditional before the name is written and the calligraphy, stencil and certificate use traditional forms, such as 葉 for 叶 and 雲 for 云. Hong Kong and Taiwan use traditional characters. Simplified and traditional are both correct; do not mix them in one design.
Should a Chinese tattoo be vertical or horizontal?
Both are correct Chinese. A vertical column reads top to bottom and suits the spine, forearm or neck; a horizontal line reads left to right and suits the collarbone or wrist. Restack the characters to change direction; never rotate the design, which lays every character on its side.
What is in the Chinese name tattoo pack?
The tattoo pack costs $24.90. It contains a real-size stencil PDF at the width you choose, a certificate of meaning listing every character with its pinyin and meaning, and reference files of the calligraphy for your artist. Choosing the name and seeing the first piece of calligraphy are free.
Can I tattoo just my Chinese given name?
Yes. The given name alone, usually one or two characters, is what friends call a Chinese person, and it is a normal thing to tattoo. With the surname in front it is the full name. Both are correct, and the certificate explains either.
Can you check a Chinese tattoo I already have?
We do not check tattoos, but the free name checker reads any Chinese name back the way a Chinese reader would, character by character. For an existing tattoo, the best test is a Chinese speaker reading it cold, without being told what it is meant to say.
Read more
- Chinese tattoo mistakes, and how to check yours before the needleThe six ways Chinese character tattoos go wrong (wrong character, wrong order, a word instead of a name, font characters, mirrored strokes, meaning drift) and a checklist to run before you book.