How Do You Write Your Name in Chinese?
Chinese has no alphabet, so foreign names are written with characters chosen for their sound. Over time dictionaries and the press settled on a standard spelling for common names: Anna is 安娜 (Ānnà), Michael is 迈克尔 (Màikè'ěr) and Smith is 史密斯 (Shǐmìsī). This tool uses those standard spellings, taken from the Wikidata knowledge base and a curated list, and writes every other name by sound with the same standard characters.
How to Use It
- Type your name: first and last name, or only a first name.
- Press Translate: you get the characters, the pinyin with tone marks and the meaning of every character.
- Check the gender: female names often use characters such as 娜, 丽 or 莉, male names 克, 尔 or 斯. Auto guesses from the first name.
- Keep it: copy the result, listen to it, save it to your list, download it as an image or share a link.
Vietnamese Names in Chinese
Vietnamese names come from Chinese characters, so they are not written by sound but with their own characters, read the Sino-Vietnamese way: Nguyễn 阮, Trần 陈, Lê 黎, Minh 明, Anh 英. Many syllables match several characters (Minh can be 明 bright, 铭 engrave or 鸣 call): tap a character to choose the meaning you like. A name typed without accents, such as Nguyen Van An, is read as Nguyễn Văn An.
A Chinese-Style Name
A transliteration like 史密斯 sounds clearly foreign. Many people who live in China take a short Chinese-style name instead: a real surname that sounds like theirs and one or two characters with a good meaning. The Chinese-style name card makes suggestions; press Other ideas for more.
Before You Get a Tattoo
Names marked Written by sound are not in the dictionary. They follow the usual rules, but there is often more than one good spelling, so ask a native speaker before printing or tattooing them. You can also see your name in Japanese and Korean, or create random names with the name generator.