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Chinese name character

Chinese name character 涵

hán

The character 涵 (Mandarin hán) appears in 6 names and 1 syllable in this reference and is spelled Han and Ham in Malaysia. Recorded meanings include “to soak; to tolerate, to forgive” and “to contain, encompass”.

Names and syllables
7
Malaysian spellings
2
Strokes
11
Attested in records
2

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

Meanings of 涵: the recorded options

  • to soak; to tolerate, to forgive

    in 9 character options · attested

  • to contain, encompass

    in 1 character options

Unihan definition: soak, wet; tolerate, be lenient

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 涵

涵 Han Mandarin Ham Hokkien · Cantonese · Hakka
涵 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
HanMandarinattested in name records
HamHokkien · Cantonese · Hakkapossible

Readings of 涵 by dialect

DialectReadingMalaysian spelling
HokkienPe̍h-ōe-jī hâm Ham
CantoneseJyutping haam4 Ham
HakkaPha̍k-fa-sṳ hàm Ham
MandarinHanyu Pinyin hán Han

Readings from the character options in our name records; Unihan gives Mandarin hán and Cantonese haam4.

6 names that can be written with 涵

1 syllables that can stand for 涵

Sources

  1. Wiktionary: 涵 · en.wiktionary.org · meaning
  2. MDBG: 涵 · mdbg.net · meaning
  3. Unicode Unihan Database: U+6DB5 · 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 涵 mean in a name?

Our records give several meanings for 涵, including “to soak; to tolerate, to forgive” and “to contain, encompass”. What a name actually means depends on the characters the family chose and how they combine.

How is 涵 spelled in Malaysia?

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

Is every Han written 涵?

Not necessarily. The spelling Han can also stand for 汉, 漢, 瀚, 翰. Only the family knows which character was chosen.