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Chinese name character

Chinese name character 能

néng

The character 能 (Mandarin néng) appears in 2 names and 2 syllables in this reference and is spelled Leng and Neng in Malaysia. Recorded meanings include “able, capable; can”.

Names and syllables
4
Malaysian spellings
2
Strokes
10
Attested in records
4

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

Meanings of 能: the recorded options

  • able, capable; can

    in 5 character options · attested

Unihan definition: to be able; can, permitted to; ability

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 能

能 Leng Hokkien · Teochew Neng Mandarin · Foochow
能 yields 2 spellings in our records. The label under each spelling is the romanization it follows, not the bearer’s dialect.
SpellingRomanization
LengHokkien · Teochew
NengMandarin · Foochow

Readings of 能 by dialect

DialectReadingMalaysian spelling
HokkienPe̍h-ōe-jī lêng Leng
TeochewPeng’im lêng5 Leng
MandarinHanyu Pinyin néng Neng
FoochowBàng-uâ-cê nèng Neng

Readings from the character options in our name records; Unihan gives Mandarin néng and Cantonese nang4.

2 names that can be written with 能

2 syllables that can stand for 能

Sources

  1. Wiktionary: 能 · en.wiktionary.org · meaning
  2. MDBG: 能 · mdbg.net · meaning
  3. Unicode Unihan Database: U+80FD · 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 能 mean in a name?

Our records give several meanings for 能, including “able, capable; can”. What a name actually means depends on the characters the family chose and how they combine.

How is 能 spelled in Malaysia?

In our records 能 is spelled Leng (Hokkien, Teochew) and Neng (Mandarin, Foochow). A spelling follows a dialect’s romanization; it does not show which dialect anyone speaks.

Is every Leng written 能?

Not necessarily. The spelling Leng can also stand for 玲, 寧. Only the family knows which character was chosen.