A: Unlike in a Western name, the family name in a Chinese name comes beforethe first name. There are also meanings in a Chinese name.
B:That's correct. The meanings in a Chinese name are reflected in thecombination(组合) of the characters ,which are influenced either by elements ofculture or era. Usually the cultural influence is stronger in the characters forfamily names. Any character that has the particle that means"woman" suggests itstraces back to the matriarchal society.Some family names originated either inofficial titles or occupation(职业),or in animals of worship. A few others comefrom numbers.
A: I see . What about given names?
B: In comparison, meanings in given names are always chosen to reflectelements of the era. In the old days, characters meaning "wealth" ,"fortune",and "happiness" were very common in names. Characters with the meanings of"gifted" ,"handsome",and "clever" were often chosen by parents as well wishesfor their children to be beautiful,capable ,and intelligent. During the 1950sand 1960s ,many boys were given the name with the meaning of "building thecountry","celebrating the nation" ,"fighting the American imperialists", and"overtaking the British". The reform and opening policies also provided morechoices of characters, such as "bo" meaning "strive" ,"si" meaning"thoughtful",and "yuhang" meaning "aeronautics" .Parents would like their children to learnmore knowledge ,to be more thoughtful and to have great aspirations(抱负,志向).Somepeople also like to use translated Western names such David, Richard, Lisa andLinda.
A:This is quite similar to English names. Some of the surnames also comefrom occupations,such as Sheppard ,Smith and Baker.Some Western names also havemeanings ."Laura " for example means "laureate" in Latin, and "Samson" means"Sun" in Hebrew.
B: I don't know much about Western names. When translated into Chinese .Westerns names are simply a phonetic combinations of Chinese characters. Inorder for people to remember Western names. Translators in the 1950s and 1960stried to localize names in literature, such as Scarlett O' Hara and Rhett Butlerin Gone with the Wind. Even a place like Atlanta was translated in such a way.Although it was easier to remember these names,they don't look Western anymore. So when some of the literary works were retranslated in the 1990s ,phonetic translation was used again.
A: A Western novel with each of its characters having a Chinese name isvery similar to a Westerner having a typical Chinese name like Da Shan ,meaning"Big Mountain". It sounds werid(怪). I'd rather have something that can remind meof the original.
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