Guides
How Chinese names work, what the scripts look like, how the zodiac is counted. Written to answer the question in the title, with the characters and their meanings.
- The 5 types of Chinese calligraphy styles, explained with one nameThe 5 types of Chinese calligraphy are seal, clerical, regular, running and cursive script. When each arose, how it looks, how legible it is, and which to choose for a name, a seal or a tattoo, shown with the same name written in each.Updated 3 November 2026
- How Chinese names work: surname first, then one or two charactersA Chinese name is a one-character family name followed by a given name of one or two characters, each with a meaning. Which part is the first name, how the parts fit, how they are spoken and written, and what makes a name sound real.Updated 1 November 2026
- 60 Chinese female names with meanings: girl names in pinyin, with the feel of eachSixty Chinese given names for a girl or a woman, each with pinyin, the meaning of every character and the impression it gives: classical, modern, gentle, bright. Add a surname and it is a complete name.Updated 25 October 2026
- Why 艾米丽·沃森 is not a Chinese name: transliteration vs a real nameA transliteration spells the sound of a foreign name in Chinese characters; a Chinese name is a surname and a meaningful given name. What each is for, how to tell them apart, and which one to use.Updated 25 October 2026
- Chinese New Year couplets: what they say, how they are built, and how to hang themWhat a Spring Festival couplet (春联) is, the rules that make two lines a couplet, ten classic couplets translated, which side the first line goes on, and why the 福 is sometimes upside down.Updated 25 October 2026
- 60 Chinese male names with meanings: boy names in pinyin, with where they come fromSixty Chinese given names for a boy or a man, each with pinyin, the meaning of every character and its source: a classical line, a virtue, a landscape. Add a surname and it is a complete name.Updated 16 October 2026
- 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.Updated 16 October 2026
- The 100 most common Chinese surnames, with meanings, pinyin and Cantonese spellingsThe hundred most common Chinese surnames in order, each with its character, Mandarin pinyin, the Cantonese and Taiwanese spellings you meet abroad, and what the character means. Plus why one in five Chinese people share just three surnames, and how to choose one for yourself.Updated 16 October 2026