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Chinese name character

Chinese name character 森

sēn

The character 森 (Mandarin sēn) appears in 3 names and 3 syllables in this reference and is spelled Sen, Sem and Sim in Malaysia. Recorded meanings include “densely forested, dense”, “full of trees; dense” and “densely forested; abundant”.

Names and syllables
6
Malaysian spellings
3
Strokes
12
Attested in records
4

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

Meanings of 森: the recorded options

  • densely forested, dense

    in 6 character options · attested

  • full of trees; dense

    in 2 character options · attested

  • densely forested; abundant

    in 1 character options

Unihan definition: forest; luxuriant vegetation

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 森

森 Sen Mandarin Sem Hakka Sim Hokkien · Teochew
森 yields 3 spellings in our records. The label under each spelling is the romanization it follows, not the bearer’s dialect.
SpellingRomanizationattested in name records
SenMandarinattested in name records
SemHakkaattested in name records
SimHokkien · Teochewpossible

Readings of 森 by dialect

DialectReadingMalaysian spelling
HokkienPe̍h-ōe-jī sim Sim
HakkaPha̍k-fa-sṳ sêm Sem
TeochewPeng’im sim1 Sim
MandarinHanyu Pinyin sēn Sen

Readings from the character options in our name records; Unihan gives Mandarin sēn and Cantonese sam1.

3 names that can be written with 森

3 syllables that can stand for 森

Sources

  1. Wiktionary: 森 · en.wiktionary.org · meaning
  2. MDBG: 森 · mdbg.net · meaning
  3. Unicode Unihan Database: U+68EE · 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 森 mean in a name?

Our records give several meanings for 森, including “densely forested, dense”, “full of trees; dense” and “densely forested; abundant”. What a name actually means depends on the characters the family chose and how they combine.

How is 森 spelled in Malaysia?

In our records 森 is spelled Sen (Mandarin), Sem (Hakka) and Sim (Hokkien, Teochew). A spelling follows a dialect’s romanization; it does not show which dialect anyone speaks.

Is every Sen written 森?

Not necessarily. The spelling Sen can also stand for 生, 星, 笙. Only the family knows which character was chosen.