A: Unlike in a Western name, the family name in a Chinese name comes before the first name. There are also meanings in a Chinese name.
B:That’s correct. The meanings in a Chinese name are reflected in the combination(組合) of the characters ,which are influenced either by elements of culture or era. Usually the cultural influence is stronger in the characters for family names. Any character that has the particle that means"woman" suggests its traces back to the matriarchal society.Some family names originated either in official titles or occupation(職業),or in animals of worship. A few others come from numbers.
A: I see . What about given names?
B: In comparison, meanings in given names are always chosen to reflect elements 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 wishes for their children to be beautiful,capable ,and intelligent. During the 1950s and 1960s ,many boys were given the name with the meaning of "building the country","celebrating the nation" ,"fighting the American imperialists", and "overtaking the British". The reform and opening policies also provided more choices of characters, such as "bo" meaning "strive" ,"si" meaning"thoughtful" ,and "yuhang" meaning "aeronautics" .Parents would like their children to learn more knowledge ,to be more thoughtful and to have great aspirations(抱負,志向).Some people also like to use translated Western names such David, Richard, Lisa and Linda.
A:This is quite similar to English names. Some of the surnames also come from occupations,such as Sheppard ,Smith and Baker.Some Western names also have meanings ."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. In order for people to remember Western names. Translators in the 1950s and 1960s tried to localize names in literature, such as Scarlett O’ Hara and Rhett Butler in 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 any more. 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 is very 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 me of the original.
