How to Write Your Name in Chinese: Transliteration or a Chinese-Style Name

A Chinese name generator will probably turn Michael into 迈克尔. It’s correct. It’s how Chinese news writes Michael Jackson. It’s also three characters that tell a Chinese reader, at a glance, that the person is foreign.

That’s the real choice behind writing your name in Chinese. You can spell it by sound, or you can have a name that looks and feels Chinese.

There are two ways to write your name in Chinese: transliterate it, matching its sounds with characters, so Michael becomes 迈克尔 (Màikè’ěr), or choose a Chinese-style name with a one-character surname and a one- or two-character given name, the way former Australian prime minister Kevin Rudd goes by 陆克文 (Lù Kèwén).

How to Write Your Name in Chinese Characters

The standard way to write a foreign name in Chinese characters is by sound. In mainland China, official media follow a naming reference from the Xinhua News Agency, so most common English names already have a set spelling.

A few names have two versions in common use. David is 大卫 for David Beckham but 戴维 (Dàiwéi) for the politician David Cameron. Sarah is often 莎拉 in entertainment news, as with Sarah Jessica Parker, and 萨拉 (Sàlā) in political coverage.

Women’s names often get characters that read as feminine in Chinese. Xinhua’s transliteration table uses characters like 娜 (nà), 丽 (lì), 莎 (shā), and 琳 (lín) for women’s names, which is why Anna ends in 娜.

For a full name, the order stays Western, first name then last, with a small dot in between. David Beckham is 大卫·贝克汉姆. That dot is another giveaway that a name is a transliteration.

How to Write Your Name in Chinese Letters

Chinese doesn’t have letters, so there’s no way to spell your name one letter at a time. Each character stands for a whole syllable, and a transliteration matches your name syllable by syllable: Em-ma becomes Ai-ma, 艾玛.

The closest thing to a Chinese alphabet is pinyin, the system that writes Chinese sounds in Latin letters. It helps you pronounce your Chinese name, but it isn’t how Chinese people write it.

How to Choose a Chinese-Style Name

A Chinese-style name follows the Chinese pattern: surname first, usually one character, then a given name of one or two characters. How the pattern works is its own story in Chinese names. What matters here is that a name built this way looks like one a Chinese person could have, not an obvious transliteration.

A few well-known foreigners show how it’s done:

• Kevin Rudd, who studied Chinese before entering politics, is 陆克文 (Lù Kèwén). Lu is a real Chinese surname, and Kewen echoes the sound of Kevin.
• Mark Rowswell, the Canadian performer famous on Chinese TV, became known as Dashan (大山, big mountain) after playing a character with that name in a 1989 CCTV New Year sketch. The name stuck, partly because it’s so easy to remember.
• Matteo Ricci, the Italian Jesuit who arrived in China in 1582, became known in Chinese as 利玛窦 (Lì Mǎdòu).

Building your own comes down to four decisions:

1. The surname. A real Chinese surname that echoes the first sound of your last name is a good start. A list of common surnames is the best place to hunt.
2. The given name. One or two characters that echo your first name work best, ideally with a meaning you like.
3. The sound check. A native speaker’s ear matters here. Chinese is full of homophones, so a lovely character can sit next to another one and turn the whole name into an accidental pun.
4. The script. Mainland China and Singapore mainly use simplified characters, while Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macau mainly use traditional, so 丽 in one is 麗 in the other. Traditional vs simplified comes down to where the name will be read.

Write Your Name in Chinese Generator

A write-your-name-in-Chinese generator is fine for a first look. Many generators transliterate by sound, and some pick odd or old-fashioned characters that a Chinese speaker wouldn’t choose for a name. None of them can tell you whether a combination sounds dated, awkward, or unintentionally funny to a Chinese reader.

If the name is going on your skin, a wedding invitation, or anything permanent, have a native speaker check it first.

How to Write Your Name in Chinese Calligraphy

Chinese calligraphy starts with stroke order, and only then with a brush.

Stroke order has a few basic rules that cover most characters:

• Top to bottom, as in 二: 一 → 二. The short line goes on top first, then the longer one underneath.
• Left to right, as in 川: 丿 → 丨 → 丨 = 川. The curved stroke on the left comes first, then the middle, then the right.
• Horizontal before vertical, as in 十: 一 → 丨 = 十. Across first, then down.
• Outside before inside, closing the box last, as in 回: 冂 → 冋 → 回. The outer frame’s left side and top go first, then the small box inside, and the bottom line seals it last.
• Center before the sides, as in 小: 亅 first, then a short dot on the left, then one on the right.

A few rounds with a pen help your name feel natural. After that, it’s time for the tools calligraphers call the Four Treasures of the Study: brush, ink, paper, and inkstone. The classic paper is xuan paper (宣纸, xuānzhǐ), a soft, absorbent paper from Anhui province.

Ink isn’t the only way to practice. When I was little and ran out of xuan paper, I’d dip my brush in plain water and write on the wooden door. The strokes showed up dark, then slowly faded, and I could start over. A water-writing cloth works the same way: you paint on it with water, practice your name, and wait a minute for a clean page.

The finishing touch is a name seal, or chop (印章, yìnzhāng). It’s carved in reverse, usually in the old seal script, and stamped in red ink paste next to your writing. My first seal came from my calligraphy tutor when I was a kid, who carved my name in clerical script, another classic style. I thought it was beautiful, and from then on, I had a seal of my own.

A seal carved with your Chinese name makes a lovely keepsake, and in some tourist areas in China, you’ll find carvers who make one to order.

How to Write What Is Your Name in Chinese

The everyday way to ask someone’s name in Chinese is 你叫什么名字？(Nǐ jiào shénme míngzi?), and the answer starts with 我叫 (wǒ jiào), followed by your name.

The polite version, 您贵姓, asks for your surname, not your full name, and you answer with 我姓 plus your surname. The honorific 贵 stays out of your answer, since it’s only for other people’s names. It’s the kind of small courtesy that goes a long way when you address people in Chinese.

Your new name gets easier every time you write it, with a pen or a wet brush. It’s more fun with company too, so show this to a friend and compare what you each come up with. And if you’d like a little more Chinese in your inbox, from everyday words to culture and what’s trending, the Stellar Chinese newsletter sign-up is on this page.