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Chinese name character

Chinese name character 仙

xiān

The character 仙 (Mandarin xiān) appears in 2 names and 5 syllables in this reference and is spelled Sien, Shin, Shyan, Sian and Xian in Malaysia. Recorded meanings include “Taoist immortal; celestial being”, “immortal; celestial being” and “immortal; fairy”.

Names and syllables
7
Malaysian spellings
5
Strokes
5
Attested in records
2

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

Meanings of 仙: the recorded options

  • Taoist immortal; celestial being

    in 3 character options · attested

  • immortal; celestial being

    in 2 character options · attested

  • immortal; fairy

    in 2 character options

Unihan definition: Taoist super-being, transcendent, immortal; cent

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 仙

仙 Sien Hakka Shin Cantonese Shyan romanization not stated Sian Hokkien Xian Mandarin
仙 yields 5 spellings in our records. The label under each spelling is the romanization it follows, not the bearer’s dialect.
SpellingRomanizationattested in name records
SienHakkaattested in name records
ShinCantonesepossible
Shyanromanization not statedpossible
SianHokkienpossible
XianMandarinpossible

Readings of 仙 by dialect

DialectReadingMalaysian spelling
HokkienPe̍h-ōe-jī sian Sian
CantoneseJyutping sin1 Shin
HakkaPha̍k-fa-sṳ siên Sien
MandarinHanyu Pinyin xiān Xian

Readings from the character options in our name records; Unihan gives Mandarin xiān and Cantonese sin1.

2 names that can be written with 仙

5 syllables that can stand for 仙

Sources

  1. Wiktionary: 仙 · en.wiktionary.org · meaning
  2. MDBG: 仙 · mdbg.net · meaning
  3. Unicode Unihan Database: U+4ED9 · 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 仙 mean in a name?

Our records give several meanings for 仙, including “Taoist immortal; celestial being”, “immortal; celestial being” and “immortal; fairy”. What a name actually means depends on the characters the family chose and how they combine.

How is 仙 spelled in Malaysia?

In our records 仙 is spelled Sien (Hakka), Shin (Cantonese), Shyan, Sian (Hokkien) and Xian (Mandarin). A spelling follows a dialect’s romanization; it does not show which dialect anyone speaks.

Is every Sien written 仙?

Not necessarily. The spelling Sien can also stand for 先, 宣. Only the family knows which character was chosen.