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Chinese name character

Chinese name character 中

zhōng

The character 中 (Mandarin zhōng) appears in 5 names and 2 syllables in this reference and is spelled Chung, Tong, Teong and Tiong in Malaysia. Recorded meanings include “middle, centre”.

Names and syllables
7
Malaysian spellings
4
Strokes
4
Attested in records
2

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

Meanings of 中: the recorded options

  • middle, centre

    in 8 character options · attested

Unihan definition: central; center, middle; in the midst of; hit (target); attain

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 中

中 Chung Hakka Tong Teochew Teong Hokkien Tiong Hokkien
中 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
ChungHakkaattested in name records
TongTeochewattested in name records
TeongHokkienpossible
TiongHokkienpossible

Readings of 中 by dialect

DialectReadingMalaysian spelling
HokkienPe̍h-ōe-jī tiong Teong, Tiong
HakkaPha̍k-fa-sṳ chûng Chung
TeochewPeng’im dong1 Tong
MandarinHanyu Pinyin zhōng –

Readings from the character options in our name records; Unihan gives Mandarin zhōng and Cantonese zung1.

5 names that can be written with 中

2 syllables that can stand for 中

Sources

  1. Wiktionary: 中 · en.wiktionary.org · meaning
  2. MDBG: 中 · mdbg.net · meaning
  3. Unicode Unihan Database: U+4E2D · 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 中 mean in a name?

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

How is 中 spelled in Malaysia?

In our records 中 is spelled Chung (Hakka), Tong (Teochew), Teong (Hokkien) and Tiong (Hokkien). A spelling follows a dialect’s romanization; it does not show which dialect anyone speaks.

Is every Chung written 中?

Not necessarily. The spelling Chung can also stand for 聪, 崇, 忠, 松. Only the family knows which character was chosen.