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Chinese name character

Chinese name character 寶, simplified 宝

bǎo

Simplified: 宝

The character 寶 (Mandarin bǎo) appears in 8 names and 4 syllables in this reference and is spelled Po, Pao, Poh, Pou and Pow in Malaysia. Recorded meanings include “treasure, precious”.

Names and syllables
12
Malaysian spellings
5
Strokes
20
Attested in records
4

12 names and syllables in this reference have 寶 as one of their character options. For 4 of them, 寶 is attested in records of real names; the rest are possible characters for that spelling.

Meanings of 寶: the recorded options

  • treasure, precious

    in 16 character options · attested

Unihan definition: treasure, jewel; precious, rare

What a name means depends on the characters the family chose and how they combine; these are options, not one definite meaning.

Malaysian spellings of 寶

寶 Po Hokkien · Teochew Pao romanization not stated Poh Hokkien · Hakka · Teochew Pou Hokkien · Cantonese Pow Hakka
寶 yields 5 spellings in our records. The label under each spelling is the romanization it follows, not the bearer’s dialect.
SpellingRomanizationattested in name records
PoHokkien · Teochewattested in name records
Paoromanization not statedattested in name records
PohHokkien · Hakka · Teochewpossible
PouHokkien · Cantonesepossible
PowHakkapossible

Readings of 寶 by dialect

DialectReadingMalaysian spelling
HokkienPe̍h-ōe-jī pó, pó͘ Po, Poh, Pou
CantoneseJyutping bou2 Pou
HakkaPha̍k-fa-sṳ pó, bau3 Poh, Pow
TeochewPeng’im bo2 Po, Poh
MandarinHanyu Pinyin bǎo –

Readings from the character options in our name records; Unihan gives Mandarin bǎo and Cantonese bou2.

8 names that can be written with 寶

4 syllables that can stand for 寶

Sources

  1. Wiktionary: 寶 · en.wiktionary.org · meaning
  2. MDBG: 寶 · mdbg.net · meaning
  3. Unicode Unihan Database: U+5BF6 · unicode.org · meaning

Readings, meanings and stroke count: the character options in our name records and the Unicode Unihan Database (Unicode License). A spelling describes how a name is written, not anyone’s dialect or background.

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Frequently asked questions

What does 寶 mean in a name?

Our records give several meanings for 寶, including “treasure, precious”. What a name actually means depends on the characters the family chose and how they combine.

How is 寶 spelled in Malaysia?

In our records 寶 is spelled Po (Hokkien, Teochew), Pao, Poh (Hokkien, Hakka, Teochew), Pou (Hokkien, Cantonese) and Pow (Hakka). A spelling follows a dialect’s romanization; it does not show which dialect anyone speaks.

Is every Po written 寶?

Not necessarily. The spelling Po can also stand for 保, 波. Only the family knows which character was chosen.