Lesson2: All about name.

In Confucius’s philosophy, ‘name’ is a very important concept. So in lesson two, let’s talk about ‘name’.

我(wǒ)叫(jiào)~~

If you open any textbook, you can definitely see that sentence. It’s still a basic sentence: Subject + Verb + Object. The verb here ‘叫’ means ‘to call’, ‘to be called’. Literally the sentence means ‘I am called…’. If you want to ask others’ name:
A：你(nǐ)叫(jiào)什(shén)么(me)名(míng)字(zì)？
B：我(wǒ)叫(jiào)张(zhāng)晓(xiǎo)丽(lì)。
什(shén)么(me)   what
名(míng)字(zì)   name

If we look at the name ‘张(zhāng)晓(xiǎo)丽(lì)’, in most cases, the first character is a surname. There are hundreds of surname in Chinese. If you are interested in that, a book <百(bǎi)家(jiā)姓(xìng)> lists most common surname. Back to the first name, unlike western name, Chinese parents pick one or two meaningful characters for kid. Take my name as example: ‘晓(xiǎo)’ is a character that for my generation in my family. My paternal cousins all share that character. The last one ‘丽(lì)’ means ‘pretty’. My parents wished I was pretty! So sad that wish not always come true. But you can still pick one or two characters you like as your Chinese name.

Sounds wonderful right? Actually not. Technically you can choose any characters you like, however there are some rules you need to pay attention:
1.    Don’t name yourself as an object: 猫(māo)，狗(gǒu)，苹(píng)果(guǒ)，牛(niú)奶(nǎi)(For meaning of these words, please go back to the last lesson)… I do have a student named himself as ‘bacon’. I mean I can tell his passion of food but it’s not a good Chinese name at all.
2.    No negative image in Chinese: 鬼(guǐ)（ghost）, 血(xuè)（blood）, 泪(lèi)（tear）…
3.    Some characters only suit girl. Vice verse.

Tips: if you don’t have any Chinese friends help you to check your Chinese name, here are some safe characters for name.
Male: 伟(wěi)-great，仁(rén)-mercy，德(dé)-moral，光(guāng)-bright，明(míng)-bright, smart，诚(chéng)-loyal， 轩(xuān)-high,tall，康(kāng)-healthy，文(wén)-knowledgeable.
Female：婷(tíng)-tall and pretty，颖(yǐng)-smart，妍(yán)-beautiful，文(wén)- knowledgeable，慧(huì)-smart，雪(xuě)-snow, pure，静(jìng)-quiet, peaceful，玉(yù)-jade

Last but not the least, don’t call your friend’s Chinese name before you make sure you are close enough. It’s very rude for one to call others’ name especially those who are elder or in the higher position than you. I thought I was quite comfortable with American culture until one day, my colleague introduced me to her cute 8-year-old girl: This is Vera, say ‘Hi’. Since that time, she always calls me ‘Vera’. I mean I understand that’s American culture. But this is the image in my mind: