Reading Chinese Names: Female Names
One thing I have noticed recently is that many Chinese learners are not well-equipped to read Chinese names. This is because textbooks usually have names like 王朋 and 张天明 that use basic characters learners already know. But real Chinese names often contain characters that are not taught in classes/textbooks.
I compiled a corpus of over 515 characters found in around 1000 female given names. These names came from members of idol groups (like SNH48 and AKB48-SH) and participants on idol survival shows (like Produce 101 China). I did my best to remove duplicate individuals (like the AKB48 members who participated in CZ101) and not include stage names that are not authentic Chinese names (like 欧若拉). A lot of performers go by stage names that sound authentic or have changed their legal name--I included these. I separated the names into individual characters and then counted how many times each character occurred in the corpus as a whole. Note that these data are not necessarily representative of the overall populations of China and Taiwan. However, I think this info is still valuable.
Below I have the top 75 characters, aka those that were found at least 7 times. I’ve included all the counts for those who may be interested.
佳 jiā - beautiful, fine, good / 35
怡 yí - harmony, pleased / 31
雨 yǔ - rain / 29
欣 xīn - happy / 26
嘉 jiā - excellent, auspicious, to praise, to commend / 24
婷 tíng - graceful / 20
琪 qí - fine jade / 20
诗 shī - poem, poetry, verse / 18
慧 huì - intelligent / 17
梦 mèng - dream, to dream / 17
羽 yǔ - feather, 5th note in pentatonic scale / 17
雅 yǎ - elegant / 17
馨 xīn - fragrant / 17
倩 qiàn - pretty, winsome / 16
小 xiǎo - small, tiny, few, young / 16
思 sī - to think, to consider / 15
文 wén - language, culture, writing, formal, literary, gentle / 15
美 měi - beautiful, very satisfactory, good, to beautify, to be pleased with oneself / 14
依 yī - to depend on, to comply with or listen to sb, according to, in the light of / 13
天 tiān - day, sky, heaven / 13
晓 xiǎo - dawn, daybreak, to know, to let sb know, to make explicit / 13
晴 qíng - clear, fine weather / 13
洁 jié - clean / 13
玉 yù - jade / 13
莹 yíng - luster of gems / 13
雪 xuě - snow, snowfall, to have the appearance of snow, to wipe away, off or out, to clean / 13
静 jìng - still, calm, quiet, not moving / 13
丹 dān - red, pellet, powder, cinnabar / 12
媛 yuán - beautiful / 12
子 zǐ - son, child, seed, egg, small thing / 12
心 xīn - heart, mind, intention, center, core / 12
涵 hán - to contain, to include, culvert / 12
紫 zǐ - purple, violet / 12
菲 fēi - luxuriant (plant growth), rich with fragrance / 12
一 yī - one, 1, single, a (article), as soon as, entire, whole, all, throughout / 12
丽 lì - beautiful / 11
妍 yán - beautiful / 11
宇 yǔ - room, universe / 11
琳 lín - gem / 11
艺 yì - skill, art / 11
君 jūn - monarch, lord, gentleman, ruler / 10
瑶 yáo - jade, precious stone, mother-of-pearl, nacre, precious / 10
璇 xuán - jade / 10
秋 qiū - autumn, fall, harvest time / 10
鑫 xīn - (used in names of people and shops, symbolizing prosperity) / 10
仪 yí - apparatus, rites, appearance, present, ceremony / 9
妤 yú - handsome, fair / 9
妮 nī - girl / 9
恩 ēn - favor, grace, kindness / 9
昕 xīn - dawn / 9
瑜 yú - excellence, luster of gems / 9
语 yǔ - dialect, language, speech / 9
露 lù - dew, syrup, nectar, outdoors, to show, to reveal, to betray, to expose / 9
凡 fán - ordinary, commonplace, mundane, temporal, of the material world, every, all, whatever, altogether, gist, outline, note of Chinese musical scale / 8
可 kě - can, may, able to, to approve, to permit, to suit, certainly, very / 8
安 ān - content, calm, still, quiet, safe, secure, in good health, to pacify, to harbor (good intentions), security, safety, peace / 8
彤 tóng - red / 8
然 rán - correct, right, so, thus, like this / 8
芸 yún - common rue, books and libraries / 8
钰 yù - treasure, hard metal / 8
雯 - wén - multicolored clouds / 8
予 yǔ - to give / 7
奕 yì - abundant, graceful / 7
婕 jié - handsome / 7
婧 jìng - slender, delicate, virtuous / 7
宁 níng - peaceful, to pacify / 7
扬 yáng - to raise, to hoist, scattering (in the wind), to flutter / 7
晨 chén - morning, dawn, daybreak / 7
楠 nán - Chinese cedar, Chinese giant redwood / 7
清 qīng - clear, distinct, quiet, just and honest, pure / 7
燕 yàn - swallow (bird) / 7
玥 yuè - pearl used in sacrifice / 7
若 ruò - to seem, like, as if / 7
萱 xuān - orange day-lily / 7
薇 wēi - fern / 7
For practice, here are some example names of female celebrities/idols that only use characters from above:
许佳琪 Xǔ Jiāqí
段艺璇 Duàn Yìxuán
李子璇 Lǐ Zǐxuán
张紫宁 Zhāng Zǐníng
李紫婷 Lǐ Zǐtíng
林君怡 Lín Jūnyí
张馨予 Zhāng Xīnyǔ
徐梦洁 Xú Mèngjié
刘诗诗 Liú Shīshī
王子文 Wáng Zǐwén
庄心妍 Zhuāng Xīnyán
章子怡 Zhāng Zǐyí
邓丽君 Dèng Lìjūn
周子瑜 Zhōu Zǐyú (Chou Tzuyu)
张钰琪 Zhāng Yùqí
张慧雯 Zhāng Huìwén
雎晓雯 Jū Xiǎowén
赵薇 Zhào Wēi
海清 Hǎi Qīng
Hopefully this helps you learn more about Chinese names! Obviously there are still many more characters you will find in names, but this is a good start. Some of the names of my family members can even be made just from the characters above. In the future I hope to compile a similar list for male names.
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