Skip to content

Chinese name character

Chinese name character 方

fāng

The character 方 (Mandarin fāng) appears in 1 name and 2 syllables in this reference and is spelled Fang and Fong in Malaysia. Recorded meanings include “square; direction; side” and “side; direction; method”.

Names and syllables
3
Malaysian spellings
2
Strokes
4
Attested in records
2

3 names and syllables in this reference have 方 as one of their character options. For 2 of them, 方 is attested in records of real names; the rest are possible characters for that spelling.

Meanings of 方: the recorded options

  • square; direction; side

    in 3 character options · attested

  • side; direction; method

    in 1 character options

Unihan definition: a square, rectangle; a region; local

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 方

方 Fang Mandarin Fong Cantonese · Hakka
方 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
FangMandarinattested in name records
FongCantonese · Hakkapossible

Readings of 方 by dialect

DialectReadingMalaysian spelling
CantoneseJyutping fong1 Fong
HakkaPha̍k-fa-sṳ fông Fong
MandarinHanyu Pinyin fāng Fang

Readings from the character options in our name records; Unihan gives Mandarin fāng and Cantonese fong1.

1 names that can be written with 方

2 syllables that can stand for 方

Sources

  1. Wiktionary: 方 · en.wiktionary.org · meaning
  2. MDBG: 方 · mdbg.net · meaning
  3. Unicode Unihan Database: U+65B9 · 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 方 mean in a name?

Our records give several meanings for 方, including “square; direction; side” and “side; direction; method”. What a name actually means depends on the characters the family chose and how they combine.

How is 方 spelled in Malaysia?

In our records 方 is spelled Fang (Mandarin) and Fong (Cantonese, Hakka). A spelling follows a dialect’s romanization; it does not show which dialect anyone speaks.

Is every Fang written 方?

Not necessarily. The spelling Fang can also stand for 芳, 舫. Only the family knows which character was chosen.