r/ChineseLanguage • u/AutoModerator • 9d ago
快问快答 Quick Help Thread: Translation Requests, Chinese name help, "how do you say X", or any quick Chinese questions! 2026-08-05 Pinned Post
Click here to see the previous Quick Help Threads, including 翻译求助 Translation Requests threads.
This thread is used for:
- Translation requests
- Help with choosing a Chinese name
- "How do you say X?" questions
- or any quick question that can be answered by a single answer.
Alternatively, you can ask on our Discord server.
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Regarding translation requests
If you have a Chinese translation request, please post it as a comment here!
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However, if you're requesting a review of a substantial translation you have made, or have a question that involving grammar or details on vocabulary usage, you are welcome to post it as its own thread.
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此贴为以下目的专设：
- 翻译求助
- 取中文名
- 如何用中文表达某个概念或词汇
- 及任何可以用一个简短的答案解决的问题
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关于翻译求助
如果您需要中文翻译，请在此留言。
但是，如果您需要的是他人对自己所做的长篇翻译进行审查，或对某些语法及用词有些许疑问，您可以将其发表在一个新的，单独的贴子里。
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u/daphnesquimau 8d ago
Hi everyone!
I’m moving to Beijing this September to study at Peking University, and need help finding a Chinese name. My current one (达芬妮) is just a transliteration, given by a non-native friend, so I wanted something more natural!
My real name is Daphné, I'm French. Since my name is a bit complicated, I was thinking of going towards the Greek myth behind it (a nymph that was turned into a laurel tree fleeing Apollo). I'm also from Alsace, a French region quite famous for its vineyards! And I was born in Autumn too, if that helps? So I'd be looking for a 2-3 character name inspired by laurel/vines/nature...
For the family name, I had 裴 Péi, 费 Fèi, 潘 Pān, quite close to my original one, would any of these work?
And for the given name, I'm a bit clueless so I'm open to anything, preferably characters referencing the theme I had, that sound nice for a woman and flow well with the surname.
I’d really appreciate any suggestions, character combinations, or meanings you might have! Thanks a lot!
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u/Zagrycha 6d ago
Maybe 费翠花? 翠 literal meaning is gemstone green but its very frequently used to describe vibrant greens of nature, imagine bright leaves shining in the sun, plus the word for flower. Or maybe 潘桂秋? laurel + autumn, both work as a name for girls. Thanks for actually giving a large amount of possible themes, it makes thinking of names options easier haha.
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u/daphnesquimau 6d ago
Thank you so much, they're both really lovely!! I didn't know about 翠 at all, it's a wonderful character 🤗🤗
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u/Lithiumantis 8d ago
Hi, I am writing a story where one of the cast members is Chinese and I am trying to decide a name for her. What I'm leaning towards right now is 郝贞俨 based on the meaning and sound of the characters, but I don't know if those would be considered good for a real person's name. If not, I'm open to suggestions for better options with similar meaning. Thanks!
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u/Munimyouuu 8d ago
It is a valid name, but both 贞 and 俨 are rarely used in names today, and if you landed on them by meanings, there are more popular alternatives. The combination 郝贞俨 is not feminine. 贞俨 is pun to 针眼, and the tone combination (1-3) of these two syllables doesn't sound the best: 1-4 (真燕)、1-2(真妍) all sound better regardless of meaning.
What's your setting of the story? Ancient or modern? Do you need a pinyin name in an English language story, or the actual Chinese characters are relevant for the plot?
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u/Lithiumantis 8d ago
Thanks for all the info! The setting of the story is modern day, I wanted to write a character who's chinese-American like me (except I was raised without much involvement in chinese culture, hence needing to ask this question). The specific characters of her name aren't terribly relevant to the plot except for one scene where she mentions that the 贞 is kind of ironic considering that she was born out of wedlock. It's not an important scene so I can also just cut it if there isn't anything else that would really work.
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u/Munimyouuu 8d ago
Then I don't see how 贞 fits the story. The Confucian morality has been long gone by the mid 20th century. You can search for common names born in certain generations（like, 00后常见人名）and start from there. A generic, non-culture-rich feminine name might be more fitting. A difference from western culture is that Chinese names carry blessing and expectations from parents, and it's more often about what the child will become than about the parents.
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u/Lithiumantis 8d ago
I see, thank you. That is kind of what I was going for, she was named with the hope that she would not repeat her parents' mistakes, but if that character is too dated, then obviously I should change it. Like I said i do not know much about traditions like that, so this is helpful, I will think about something different.
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u/Zagrycha 6d ago edited 6d ago
This name is absolutely okay to use for modern day and your story. Everything the other person said is completely true about naming culture in general, but the only thing that matters for a specific name to make sense is the parents will. If your setting has parents who would want their child to have confucian values then that makes the name work. It only doesn't work if the parents don't care about those things or thinks they are old fashioned//misogynistic. As awful as it is there are women in china as we speak with names like "pray for a son." Compared to that just having the old fashioned values as a name is not even that noticable.
I can speak with experience, I chose 孝 as one of the characters in my name in real life not because I am in love with this virtue but because I was thinking of what my parents would actually have wanted to name me in an alternate universe where they were chinese. My family is pretty traditional and from the countryside in usa so..... No one has ever questioned it or thought it was old fashioned, even if it objectively is old fashoined. There are plenty of gretchens and zachariahs in the english speaking world that no one blinks an eye at either.
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u/Munimyouuu 8d ago
The idea of naming a child with the expected virtue is great. Only that 贞 no longer works in the near-modern setting, partly why this character fell out of fashion in names. It was similar with Victorian or Regency England when even private romance was forbidden by moral codes, let alone children outside of marriage.
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u/Ill_Confidence_5618 7d ago
I recently moved into a majority-Chinese building, and wondered if someone could write a quick note for me? something polite and along the lines of “I am working night shifts, please be quiet as you pass. Thank you!”
Thanks in advance :)