A Passage to China (走近中国) - Suggestions for Avoidance in Naming

Even though it is personal to decide a name for the baby, there are points people often consider when a name is given.

1. It is better that the given name tells the gender of the bearer even though it is the right of the parents to decide what name to give their new baby. Are there many people who like to be regarded as the opposite gender if they are met merely by the name?
   
2. Consideration should be paid to the sound of the given name. What will happen if you are a very intelligent person but your name is Wu Cai (吴才) –the sound may also mean “ no intelligence” (无才)? If you are asked for your name and your reply is Wu Shizhu(伍世珠) –the sound may mean “I an a pig” (我是猪), will the listener laugh or will the listener be surprised? If you are a doctor, do you think many patients will visit you if your name is Ding Huisi (丁会斯) –the sound is the same as “be sure to die” in Chinese (定会死). A restaurant can hardly prosper if its owner’s name Chong(崇), (The sound may be misunderstood to mean “I am an insect”.)? Before you give it, please read aloud your family name and the given name and see if there is any bad sound association.
   
3. Better avoid characters that have several pronunciations, because no one likes to have his or her name mispronounced, and no one wants to have a name that new acquaintances are hesitant or embarrassed to say aloud. The former well-known Chinese football player Rong Zhixing (容志行) had his name mispronounced as Rong Zhihang for several years on TV and radio before it was pronounced in the “right” way, because the character Xing(行) can also be pronounced as Hang (行). In the period of the Three Kingdoms, the well-known figure Liu Bei(刘备) named his son “刘禅”. It is said that even now no one is sure how to pronounce the character “禅”, because it has two pronunciations, “chan” and “shan”; No one can tell you now how his father pronounced it about 2,000 year ago. Are you able to pronounce in the right way the name of China’s contemporary writer 贾平凹 if you see it for the first time and nobody gives you any advice beforehand?
   
4. Better avoid characters that are too native. Even though some parents like to name their baby Zhao Xiaobao (赵小宝), Lin Xiaohua(林小花), Wang Xiaomao(王小毛), Xin Yuanyuan (辛圆圆), etc., those names, though lovely for babies, are not proper when the baby grows up, especially if the baby turns out to be an important person or to hold an important official position. What will you feel if you act a grandfather in a play and your name is (王小毛), while a six-year-old girl named Zhang Yuanyuan (张圆圆) the granddaughter, and both of the two names are shown to the audience? Will audience tell the right relation by the two names?

To sum up, think and read the name before you give it.

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