Skip to content

Chinese name character

Chinese name character 初

chū

The character 初 (Mandarin chū) appears in 2 names and 2 syllables in this reference and is spelled Chor and Choe in Malaysia. Recorded meanings include “initial, first” and “beginning; first; original”.

Names and syllables
4
Malaysian spellings
2
Strokes
8
Attested in records
1

4 names and syllables in this reference have 初 as one of their character options. For 1 of them, 初 is attested in records of real names; the rest are possible characters for that spelling.

Meanings of 初: the recorded options

  • initial, first

    in 2 character options · attested

  • beginning; first; original

    in 2 character options

Unihan definition: beginning, initial, primary

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 初

初 Chor Hokkien · Cantonese Choe Hokkien
初 yields 2 spellings in our records. The label under each spelling is the romanization it follows, not the bearer’s dialect.
SpellingRomanizationattested in name records
ChorHokkien · Cantoneseattested in name records
ChoeHokkienpossible

Readings of 初 by dialect

DialectReadingMalaysian spelling
HokkienPe̍h-ōe-jī chho͘, chhoe Chor, Choe
CantoneseJyutping co1 Chor
MandarinHanyu Pinyin chū –

Readings from the character options in our name records; Unihan gives Mandarin chū and Cantonese co1.

2 names that can be written with 初

2 syllables that can stand for 初

Sources

  1. Wiktionary: 初 · en.wiktionary.org · meaning
  2. MDBG: 初 · mdbg.net · meaning
  3. Unicode Unihan Database: U+521D · 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.

More

Frequently asked questions

What does 初 mean in a name?

Our records give several meanings for 初, including “initial, first” and “beginning; first; original”. What a name actually means depends on the characters the family chose and how they combine.

How is 初 spelled in Malaysia?

In our records 初 is spelled Chor (Hokkien, Cantonese) and Choe (Hokkien). A spelling follows a dialect’s romanization; it does not show which dialect anyone speaks.

Is every Chor written 初?

Not necessarily. The spelling Chor can also stand for 祖, 楚. Only the family knows which character was chosen.