Chinese names

Chinese name characters

Each character with its recorded meanings, its reading in each dialect and the Malaysian spellings it yields. What a name means depends on the characters the family chose.

Characters: 326
Names and syllables: 1,116
Median strokes: 10
Most used: 文

The 40 most used characters

1.文 wén 44
2.明 míng 41
3.偉 wěi 37
4.成 chéng 34
5.怡 yí 34
6.志 zhì 31
7.嘉 jiā 30
8.威 wēi 29
9.欣 xīn 28
10.良 liáng 27
11.家 jiā 26
12.振 zhèn 25
13.俊 jùn 23
14.亮 liàng 22
15.秀 xiù 22
16.慧 huì 21
17.清 qīng 21
18.惠 huì 20
19.金 jīn 20
20.思 sī 20
21.瑞 ruì 19
22.智 zhì 19
23.子 zǐ 19
24.美 měi 18
25.星 xīng 18
26.光 guāng 17
27.健 jiàn 17
28.杰 jié 17
29.進 jìn 17
30.景 jǐng 17
31.玲 líng 17
32.盛 shèng 17
33.耀 yào 17
34.忠 zhōng 17
35.國 guó 16
36.華 huá 16
37.佳 jiā 16
38.祺 qí 16
39.慶 qìng 16
40.伟 wěi 16

Number of names and syllables in this reference whose character options include it.

The most recorded meanings

jade 20
good 19
bright 16
beautiful 14
fine 14
great 14
auspicious 11
chinese 11
clear 11
virtuous 11
abundant 10
outstanding 10
magnificent 9
names 9
prefix 9
prosper 9
bird 8
first 8
happy 8
precious 8
rise 8
vast 8
wise 8
elegant 7
high 7
peaceful 7
prosperous 7
pure 7

The words appearing most often in the meanings of the characters on these pages, with the number of characters.

Characters by stroke count (Unihan). Median: 10 strokes.

Strokes	Characters
2	1
3	9
4	16
5	16
6	25
7	21
8	36
9	33
10	32
11	27
12	34
13	22
14	17
15	12
16	10
17	3
18	1
19	5
20+	6

All 326 characters

Frequently asked questions

How was this list chosen?

Every character here appears in at least 3 names or syllables in this reference, and at least one of them is attested in records of real names. That gives 326 characters.

Does a character have only one meaning?

No. Most characters have several meanings, and what a name means depends on the characters the family chose and how they combine. We show the options, not one “correct” meaning.

Why does one character have so many spellings?

Malaysian spellings follow different dialect romanizations. For example, 偉 is spelled Wei in Mandarin pinyin, Wai in Cantonese and Wee in Hokkien or Teochew.

Strokes	Characters
2	1
3	9
4	16
5	16
6	25
7	21
8	36
9	33
10	32
11	27
12	34
13	22
14	17
15	12
16	10
17	3
18	1
19	5
20+	6

Strokes	Characters
2	1
3	9
4	16
5	16
6	25
7	21
8	36
9	33
10	32
11	27
12	34
13	22
14	17
15	12
16	10
17	3
18	1
19	5
20+	6

The 40 most used characters

The most recorded meanings

All 326 characters

More

Frequently asked questions

Strokes	Characters
2	1
3	9
4	16
5	16
6	25
7	21
8	36
9	33
10	32
11	27
12	34
13	22
14	17
15	12
16	10
17	3
18	1
19	5
20+	6