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Chinese name character

Chinese name character 水

shuǐ

The character 水 (Mandarin shuǐ) appears in 2 names and 4 syllables in this reference and is spelled Swee, Chooi, Chui and Sui in Malaysia. Recorded meanings include “water”.

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

6 names and syllables in this reference have 水 as one of their character options. For 3 of them, 水 is attested in records of real names; the rest are possible characters for that spelling.

Meanings of 水: the recorded options

  • water

    in 6 character options · attested

Unihan definition: water, liquid, lotion, juice

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 水

水 Swee Hokkien Chooi Hokkien Chui Hokkien Sui Hokkien · Cantonese · Hakka
水 yields 4 spellings in our records. The label under each spelling is the romanization it follows, not the bearer’s dialect.
SpellingRomanizationattested in name records
SweeHokkienattested in name records
ChooiHokkienpossible
ChuiHokkienpossible
SuiHokkien · Cantonese · Hakkapossible

Readings of 水 by dialect

DialectReadingMalaysian spelling
HokkienPe̍h-ōe-jī súi, chúi Swee, Chooi, Chui, Sui
CantoneseJyutping seoi2 Sui
HakkaPha̍k-fa-sṳ súi Sui
MandarinHanyu Pinyin shuǐ –

Readings from the character options in our name records; Unihan gives Mandarin shuǐ and Cantonese seoi2.

2 names that can be written with 水

4 syllables that can stand for 水

Sources

  1. MDBG: 水 · mdbg.net · meaning
  2. Wiktionary: 水 · en.wiktionary.org · meaning
  3. Unicode Unihan Database: U+6C34 · 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 水 mean in a name?

Our records give several meanings for 水, including “water”. What a name actually means depends on the characters the family chose and how they combine.

How is 水 spelled in Malaysia?

In our records 水 is spelled Swee (Hokkien), Chooi (Hokkien), Chui (Hokkien) and Sui (Hokkien, Cantonese, Hakka). A spelling follows a dialect’s romanization; it does not show which dialect anyone speaks.

Is every Swee written 水?

Not necessarily. The spelling Swee can also stand for 瑞, 穗. Only the family knows which character was chosen.