Chinese name character

Chinese name character 時, simplified 时

shí

Simplified: 时

The character 時 (Mandarin shí) appears in 1 name and 4 syllables in this reference and is spelled See, Si, Shih, Sii and Sze in Malaysia. Recorded meanings include “time; season; era”.

Names and syllables: 5
Malaysian spellings: 5
Strokes: 10
Attested in records: 2

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

Meanings of 時: the recorded options

time; season; era
in 6 character options · attested

Unihan definition: time, season; era, age, period

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 時

時 yields 5 spellings in our records. The label under each spelling is the romanization it follows, not the bearer’s dialect.

Spelling	Romanization	attested in name records
See	Hokkien · Teochew	attested in name records
Si	Hokkien · Cantonese	attested in name records
Shih	romanization not stated	possible
Sii	Foochow	possible
Sze	Cantonese	possible

Readings of 時 by dialect

Dialect	Reading	Malaysian spelling
HokkienPe̍h-ōe-jī	sî	See, Si
CantoneseJyutping	si4	Si, Sze
TeochewPeng’im	si5	See
MandarinHanyu Pinyin	shí	–
FoochowBàng-uâ-cê	sì	Sii

Readings from the character options in our name records; Unihan gives Mandarin shí and Cantonese si4.

1 names that can be written with 時

See Tong♂時中 · 時東

4 syllables that can stand for 時

Sources

Wiktionary: 時 · en.wiktionary.org · meaning
MDBG: 時 · mdbg.net · meaning
Unicode Unihan Database: U+6642 · 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.

Frequently asked questions

What does 時 mean in a name?

Our records give several meanings for 時, including “time; season; era”. What a name actually means depends on the characters the family chose and how they combine.

How is 時 spelled in Malaysia?

In our records 時 is spelled See (Hokkien, Teochew), Si (Hokkien, Cantonese), Shih, Sii (Foochow) and Sze (Cantonese). A spelling follows a dialect’s romanization; it does not show which dialect anyone speaks.

Is every See written 時?

Not necessarily. The spelling See can also stand for 思, 诗. Only the family knows which character was chosen.

Chinese name character 時 / , simplified 时