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Chinese name character

Chinese name character 源

yuán

The character 源 (Mandarin yuán) appears in 12 names and 4 syllables in this reference and is spelled Guan, Ngian, Nyan and Yuan in Malaysia. Recorded meanings include “source; origin; root”, “source, headspring” and “source; fountainhead”.

Names and syllables
16
Malaysian spellings
4
Strokes
13
Attested in records
12

16 names and syllables in this reference have 源 as one of their character options. For 12 of them, 源 is attested in records of real names; the rest are possible characters for that spelling.

Meanings of 源: the recorded options

  • source; origin; root

    in 19 character options · attested

  • source, headspring

    in 2 character options · attested

  • source; fountainhead

    in 2 character options · attested

Unihan definition: spring; source, head; surname

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 源

源 Guan Hokkien Ngian Hakka Nyan Hakka Yuan Mandarin
源 yields 4 spellings in our records. The label under each spelling is the romanization it follows, not the bearer’s dialect.
SpellingRomanization
GuanHokkien
NgianHakka
NyanHakka
YuanMandarin

Readings of 源 by dialect

DialectReadingMalaysian spelling
HokkienPe̍h-ōe-jī goân Guan
HakkaPha̍k-fa-sṳ ngièn Ngian, Nyan
MandarinHanyu Pinyin yuán Yuan

Readings from the character options in our name records; Unihan gives Mandarin yuán and Cantonese jyun4.

12 names that can be written with 源

4 syllables that can stand for 源

Sources

  1. Wiktionary: 源 · en.wiktionary.org · meaning
  2. MDBG: 源 · mdbg.net · meaning
  3. Unicode Unihan Database: U+6E90 · 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 源 mean in a name?

Our records give several meanings for 源, including “source; origin; root”, “source, headspring” and “source; fountainhead”. What a name actually means depends on the characters the family chose and how they combine.

How is 源 spelled in Malaysia?

In our records 源 is spelled Guan (Hokkien), Ngian (Hakka), Nyan (Hakka) and Yuan (Mandarin). A spelling follows a dialect’s romanization; it does not show which dialect anyone speaks.

Is every Guan written 源?

Not necessarily. The spelling Guan can also stand for 元, 原. Only the family knows which character was chosen.