There are standard Chinese ‘versions’ of European names (see below), but in my view they’re not as good as having an authentic, genuine Chinese name. You may be able to find a Chinese name that sounds similar, but it’s never a one-to-one conversion. There’s no way to “convert” or “write out” European names in Chinese. Sometimes I get questions through the site asking me things like “here is my English name _ - how do I write it in Chinese?” or “can you convert my English name _ into Chinese?” A note for the uninitiatedīefore I talk about how to actually get a Chinese name, here’s a quick note for anyone who’s new to this or doesn’t know too much about it.
If you’re learning Chinese then you probably do want to get a Chinese name, because European names just don’t really work in Mandarin with its limited set of valid syllables.Īs it comes up so frequently, and I’ve now had several questions about it via the site, I thought I’d add my two cents to the issue here. How to get a Chinese name is a question that comes up constantly on China-related forums, sub-reddits etc.
