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BM

Chinese name character

Chinese name character 铭

míng

Traditional: 銘

The character 铭 (Mandarin míng) appears in 4 names and 2 syllables in this reference and is spelled Ming and Beng in Malaysia. Recorded meanings include “inscription; to inscribe, to engrave”.

Names and syllables
6
Malaysian spellings
2
Strokes
11
Attested in records
6

6 names and syllables in this reference have 铭 as one of their character options. For 6 of them, 铭 is attested in records of real names; the rest are possible characters for that spelling.

Meanings of 铭: the recorded options

  • inscription; to inscribe, to engrave

    in 6 character options · attested

Unihan definition: inscribe, engrave

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 铭

铭 Ming Cantonese · Mandarin Beng Hokkien
铭 yields 2 spellings in our records. The label under each spelling is the romanization it follows, not the bearer’s dialect.
SpellingRomanization
MingCantonese · Mandarin
BengHokkien

Readings of 铭 by dialect

DialectReadingMalaysian spelling
HokkienPe̍h-ōe-jī bêng Beng
CantoneseJyutping ming4 Ming
MandarinHanyu Pinyin míng Ming

Readings from the character options in our name records; Unihan gives Mandarin míng and Cantonese ming4.

4 names that can be written with 铭

2 syllables that can stand for 铭

Sources

  1. MDBG: 铭 · mdbg.net · meaning
  2. Wiktionary: 铭 · en.wiktionary.org · meaning
  3. Unicode Unihan Database: U+94ED · 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 铭 mean in a name?

Our records give several meanings for 铭, including “inscription; to inscribe, to engrave”. What a name actually means depends on the characters the family chose and how they combine.

How is 铭 spelled in Malaysia?

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

Is every Ming written 铭?

Not necessarily. The spelling Ming can also stand for 明, 名, 鳴. Only the family knows which character was chosen.