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Chinese name character

Chinese name character 東, simplified 东

dōng

Simplified: 东

The character 東 (Mandarin dōng) appears in 7 names and 2 syllables in this reference and is spelled Tong and Tung in Malaysia. Recorded meanings include “east; host”.

Names and syllables
9
Malaysian spellings
2
Strokes
8
Attested in records
3

9 names and syllables in this reference have 東 as one of their character options. For 3 of them, 東 is attested in records of real names; the rest are possible characters for that spelling.

Meanings of 東: the recorded options

  • east; host

    in 10 character options · attested

Unihan definition: east, eastern, eastward

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 東

東 Tong Hokkien · Teochew Tung Cantonese · Hakka
東 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
TongHokkien · Teochewattested in name records
TungCantonese · Hakkapossible

Readings of 東 by dialect

DialectReadingMalaysian spelling
HokkienPe̍h-ōe-jī tong Tong
CantoneseJyutping dung1 Tung
HakkaPha̍k-fa-sṳ tûng Tung
TeochewPeng’im dong1 Tong
MandarinHanyu Pinyin dōng –

Readings from the character options in our name records; Unihan gives Mandarin dōng and Cantonese dung1.

7 names that can be written with 東

2 syllables that can stand for 東

Sources

  1. Wiktionary: 東 · en.wiktionary.org · meaning
  2. MDBG: 東 · mdbg.net · meaning
  3. Unicode Unihan Database: U+6771 · 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 東 mean in a name?

Our records give several meanings for 東, including “east; host”. What a name actually means depends on the characters the family chose and how they combine.

How is 東 spelled in Malaysia?

In our records 東 is spelled Tong (Hokkien, Teochew) and Tung (Cantonese, Hakka). A spelling follows a dialect’s romanization; it does not show which dialect anyone speaks.

Is every Tong written 東?

Not necessarily. The spelling Tong can also stand for 桐, 同, 东, 通. Only the family knows which character was chosen.