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Chinese name character

Chinese name character 玉

yù

The character 玉 (Mandarin yù) appears in 8 names and 3 syllables in this reference and is spelled Yu, Gaik, Gek, Ngu and Yoke in Malaysia. Recorded meanings include “jade; pure; beautiful”.

Names and syllables
11
Malaysian spellings
5
Strokes
5
Attested in records
7

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

Meanings of 玉: the recorded options

  • jade; pure; beautiful

    in 12 character options · attested

Unihan definition: jade, precious stone, gem

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 玉

玉 Yu Mandarin Gaik Hokkien Gek Hokkien · Teochew Ngu Foochow Yoke Cantonese
玉 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
YuMandarinattested in name records
GaikHokkienattested in name records
GekHokkien · Teochewattested in name records
NguFoochowpossible
YokeCantonesepossible

Readings of 玉 by dialect

DialectReadingMalaysian spelling
HokkienPe̍h-ōe-jī ge̍k Gaik, Gek
CantoneseJyutping juk6 Yoke
TeochewPeng’im ghêg8 Gek
MandarinHanyu Pinyin yù Yu
FoochowBàng-uâ-cê ngṳ̆k Ngu

Readings from the character options in our name records; Unihan gives Mandarin yù and Cantonese juk6.

8 names that can be written with 玉

3 syllables that can stand for 玉

Sources

  1. Wiktionary: 玉 · en.wiktionary.org · meaning
  2. MDBG: 玉 · mdbg.net · meaning
  3. Unicode Unihan Database: U+7389 · 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 玉 mean in a name?

Our records give several meanings for 玉, including “jade; pure; beautiful”. What a name actually means depends on the characters the family chose and how they combine.

How is 玉 spelled in Malaysia?

In our records 玉 is spelled Yu (Mandarin), Gaik (Hokkien), Gek (Hokkien, Teochew), Ngu (Foochow) and Yoke (Cantonese). A spelling follows a dialect’s romanization; it does not show which dialect anyone speaks.

Is every Yu written 玉?

Not necessarily. The spelling Yu can also stand for 瑜, 宇, 裕. Only the family knows which character was chosen.