What’s in a Name?
August 9, 2008
A Case for Writing the Chinese Ming as One Word in English
Most Chinese Americans have a Chinese given name, called a ming or mingzi. Since ancient times, the Han Chinese ming has consisted of either one or two characters (or words).
The two-character ming has been more popular in China since the 19th century (except for a few recent decades under Communist rule), and it has always been understood that the two-character ming is one name — two words selected from the common written language to form a given name. As an author and researcher of Chinese American names, I am concerned that future generations of non-Chinese speaking descendants may not know this fact.
It is common to transcribe each character of a Chinese name as separate words, as in Chin Duk Sihn or, when the surname is last, as Duk Sihn Chin. This follows the way Chinese words are spaced when they are written in horizontal lines. One problem that occurs with this is hearing the first word of the two-character ming described as a “middle name”; this comes from looking at the usual Chinese name of three characters, and using the familiar American term for the center word.
Unfortunately, there are published explanations of Chinese names that equate the two-character ming with American first and middle names. Using these terms to describe the two-character given name is misleading and confusing. Sadly, the use of these terms has caused some people to reverse their ming in English. For example, Fu Bao Wen became Wen Bao Fu even though his ming was “Bao Wen.” This is similar to a Mary writing her name as Ry Ma.
Other problems have occurred with writing the two-character ming as separate words. It is not only difficult to recognize it as being one name, you cannot always tell from the full name at which end the surname is placed. Because the two-character ming is likely to be computerized as “first” and “middle” names, siblings may all have the same “first name” on their official forms.
This occurs because most families observe the ancient Paihang naming custom of repeating a word in the two-character ming of their children as a means of family identification. For example, the word “Shao” is repeated in the Chinese names of my grandchildren. It is referred to as a “generation name” since it is not repeated in previous or succeeding generations, and it is not a separate name.
To better understand this, it is best to compare the two-character ming with certain Old English names. Edward, for example, was composed of two words put together to form one name: Ed (meaning “rich” or “happy”) and Ward (meaning “guardian.”). The “generation name” is like the “Ed” in the names Edmund (‘rich’, ‘protection’), Edwin (‘rich’, ‘friend’) and Edith (‘rich’, ‘war’), clearly seen as part of the given name.
In this computer age, it seems the time has come for Chinese Americans to recognize the importance of writing the two-character ming in English as one name. It could be written as one word: Baowen. Or with a hyphen: Bao-wen. Hyphenating is best when the first word ends in a vowel and the second begins with a vowel. For example, my ming can be written You-ai or Youai (without the hyphen, it could sound like the howl of a cat!).
Writing the two-word ming in English as one name and comparing it with the Old English names will help future non-Chinese speaking generations better understand and appreciate the legacy of Chinese naming customs.
Emma Woo Louie, the author of Chinese American Names: Tradition and Transition (McFarland & Co., 1998), is a second-generation American of Chinese ancestry. Her interest in this subject is motivated by the spelling differences and evolution of new surnames, the ties to history — family and Chinese American — and naming trends in America and China, and most of all, by the desire to share information with non-Chinese speaking generations who have names of Chinese origin.
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One Response to “What’s in a Name?”
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Dear Emma Woo Louie:
What a lovely article.
And how hearwarming.
But, alas!, the sad fact is that beyond sec0nd=gneration Chinese here, the third and subsequent rarely, if ever, HAVE “Chinese” names.
Which may or may not be “correct” and honoring of ancestors.
Oh, and the only omission I could discern in your thorough and thoughtful deconstruction is the fact, to me at least, that the so-called “middle” or generational “ming” is often the successive words in a selected quotation from literature.
My own family middle or generational name is “yum” and no doubt derives from some quotation I have not clue-1 to, but I have personally witnessed it inscribed onto the wall of a village “temple” at Ha-Peng in Toishan, more than seven decades ago.
Too much lost, too little gained. But I, for one, believe that the simple recognition and observance of respect and honor for one’s antecedents may prove sufficient in the hereafter.
After all, we ARE far removed from those times and places. Albeit I hope your efforts may be inscribed into the longer record of resolution and “change.”