In this article, we will share Chinese male names with their meanings, Chinese female names with meanings, and a few unisex names too.
I am not a Chinese language expert, so I will keep the explanations simple here. Even so, the characters behind each name usually carry a lot of meaning, and that is what makes Chinese names so interesting.
If you like name lists, you may also want to check our List of Nicknames in Mandarin Chinese and our guide on how to differentiate Japanese, Korean, and Chinese.
Curiosities About Chinese Names
Like in Japanese, Chinese naming order usually puts the family name first and the given name second. Many Chinese names are made of one or two characters, which keeps them short but meaningful.
Chinese names can sound similar, especially when the family name is the same. In those cases, the characters themselves matter a lot, because they are what give the name its meaning.
Chinese girls' names often use characters connected to beauty, flowers, purity, or elegance. Boys' names more often lean toward ideas like courage, strength, and power.
Like the Ainu tribe, some ancient Chinese traditions also believed that harsh or ugly names could keep evil spirits away. A few odd examples are Gou Sheng, which means leftover dog food, and Te Dan, which means iron egg.
It is not very common to change names after marriage, and many families prefer to keep the original family name. For Chinese culture, names are closely tied to family history and origin.
If you want more related reading, take a look at our List of Nicknames in Mandarin Chinese and the article How to differentiate Japanese, Korean, and Chinese.
Popular Chinese Names Today
Writing about Chinese names can be tricky because there are many options and styles to cover. To make it easier, I separated the most popular names below into clear groups.
The Most Popular Chinese Names Today
According to the latest table, the most popular Chinese names given to babies are:
| Male | Female |
| 奕辰 (Yìchén): 14,620 | 一诺 (Yīnuò): 24,820 |
| 宇轩 (Yǔxuān):14,479 | 依诺 (Yīnuò): 19426 |
| 浩宇 (Hàoyǔ): 14,104 | 欣怡 (Xīnyí): 17,623 |
| 亦辰 (Yìchén): 14,034 | 梓涵 (Zǐhán): 14,626 |
| 宇辰 (Yǔchén): 13,234 | 语桐 (Yǔtóng): 12,444 |
| 子墨 (Zǐmò): 12,534 | 欣妍 (Xīnyán): 12,096 |
| 宇航 (Yǔháng): 11,609 | 可欣 (Kěxīn): 12,022 |
| 浩然 (Hàorán): 11,557 | 语汐 (Yǔxī): 11,969 |
| 梓豪 (Zǐháo): 10,895 | 雨桐 (Yǔtóng): 11,637 |
| 亦宸 (Yìchén): 10,844 | 梦瑶 (Mèngyáo): 11,128 |
Other common Chinese names are:
- Fang means Fragrance, virtue;
- Jing means Peaceful or calm;
- Lei means Pile of stones, great, thunderous;
- Li means Beautiful or strength;
- Min means Fast or intelligent;
- Qiang means Strong, better;
- Tao means Big wave or peach;
- Wei means Great;
- Yan means Beautiful, swallow bird;
- Xiuying means brave and beautiful;
Cute Chinese Names
Below we have a list of Chinese names considered cute:
- Ah Kum means good as gold (female);
- Chonglin means second brother and unicorn (male);
- Fengge means Phoenix pavilion (male);
- Hong means swan or wild (male);
- Jaw-Long means like a dragon (male);
- Lian means the graceful willow (female);
- Mingxia means bright and shining clouds of dawn (female);
- Nuwa means goddess or mother (female);
- Shoi-Ming means sun life (male);
- Suyin means sound or unadorned (female);
It is worth noting that Chinese names can generally have one or more meanings because their writing in characters is different.
Chinese Boy Names
Below we have a complete list of Chinese Male Names with their meanings:
| Chinese Name | Meaning |
| Amen | Certainly |
| Boseph | Bo, valuable |
| Chang | prosperous |
| Chao | to surpass |
| Chen | treasure |
| Cheng | Completed |
| Cheng-Gong | Success |
| Cheung | Happiness |
| Chong | Abundance |
| Chu | The stone base of a column |
| Cong | intelligent |
| Cong-Min | Intelligent |
| Deshi | gold |
| Dewei | Very noble |
| Dishi | Man of Virtue |
| Dong | The East |
| Enlai | Valuation |
| Fa | Beginning |
| Fai | illumination |
| Feng | top |
| Gan | Admirable |
| Gang | inflexible |
| Guo | country |
| Hai | heap mass |
| Hao | The |
| Heng | permanent, constant |
| Hu | spirit |
| Jian | Well-being |
| Jiang | River |
| Jingjing | Perfect essence |
| Jong | Brilliant |
| Ju | giant |
| Jun | Ordered |
| Kang | Well-being |
| Kuan | Free of worries |
| Kuen | The first |
| Kueng | the universe |
| Kun | Experienced in counsel |
| Li-Wei | Beautiful rose |
| Liang | Excellent |
| Lok | Joyful. |
| Long | Dragon. |
| Luan | Revolt |
| Mailie | pronounced beautiful my-lee |
| Mao | Blooming |
| Meng | Savage, energetic |
| Ming | Bright moon |
| Mu | Admired |
| Ning | Peaceful |
| On | Peace |
| Pei | abundant |
| Piao | beautiful |
| Ping | Kroos |
| Qi | illumination |
| Qiang | Someone who has strength |
| Qiao | beautiful, pretty |
| Shan | God is with us |
| Shen | spirit |
| Sheng | Triumph |
| Syaoran | Little wolf |
| Tai | Someone from Thailand |
| Tai-Yang | Sun |
| Viella | artistic and shy |
| Wei | valuable – brilliant |
| Wen | culture, literacy |
| Wing | High honor. |
| Wu | Courage |
| Xu | Brilliant rising sun |
| Yan-Tao | beautiful |
| Yang | The masculine principle of the universe |
| You | Someone who is gentle |
| Zhen | Lavish |
| Zhi | Wisdom, healing |
| Zhong | Middle |
| Zhu | Vertical |
| Zhuang | Strong |
| Zi | Increase in number of |
Chinese Girl Names
| Chinese Name | Meaning |
| Ah-Kum | treasure |
| An | Graceful, sweet and bitter, sad |
| Annchi | Amazing peace, angel |
| Bo | beautiful look / pretty |
| Chow | Summer |
| Chyou | Autumn. |
| Daiyu | Of black jade color |
| Fu | Someone who is rich |
| Genji | Gold |
| Huan | With joy |
| Huang | bright |
| Hui | sunlight |
| Huo | Fire |
| Ji | Happiness |
| Jia | Good and beautiful |
| Jia-Li | Good and beautiful |
| Jiali | Good, beautiful |
| Jiang-Li | A beautiful river |
| Jiao | pleasant and gentle |
| Jie | rises above the rest |
| Jing | Capital |
| Kuan-Yin | Buddhist mercy of God |
| Le | Happiness |
| Lei | lion |
| Li | beautiful / powerful |
| Li-Fen | Beautiful |
| Li-Hua | Pearl flower |
| Li-Ming | pretty and bright |
| Li-Na | Who has beauty and grace |
| Li-Yu | rainy day |
| Lian | Youth, dedicated to Jupiter |
| Lien | free man, who was not noble |
| Liming | Intelligent and bright |
| Ling | Dawn |
| Liu | Flow |
| Lixue | Beautiful snow |
| Lu-Chu | Of green pearl color |
| Mayleen | beautiful |
| Mee | Sausage |
| Mei | The |
| Mei-Fen | plums |
| Mei-Lan | Pretty orchids |
| Mei-Xiu | beautiful |
| Meiling | Pretty and finely |
| Ming-Mei | Thin and beautiful |
| Ming-Yue | Bright moon |
| Mingmei | intelligent, beautiful |
| Mu-Lan | magnolia |
| Mulan | Wood Orchid |
| Niu | Girl |
| Rong | advice |
| Seyoung | Illuminate the world |
| Sharpay | Sand Skin |
| Shuang | Bright, clear |
| Shui | Water |
| Tao | Peach, Long Life |
| Teegan | good, beautiful |
| Ting | Someone who is thin and elegant |
| Ushi | ox |
| Wan | Inscription |
| Xi-Wang | Hope |
| Xia | brightness of sunrise |
| Xiang | fragrant |
| Xiao | In the early morning |
| Xiao-Chen | Morning |
| Xiara | Brightness of sunrise |
| a star | |
| Xing-Xing | two stars |
| Xiu | Pretty, elegant |
| Xiu-Juan | Elegant |
| Xiu-Mei | pretty plum |
| Xue | Fragrant snow |
| Xue-Fang | fragrant snow |
| Xun | fast, sudden |
| Yan | swallow (bird) |
| Yein | type of soft |
| Yi | Happy, bright as a pearl |
| Yi-Min | Intelligent |
| Yu | Pure, beautiful Jade |
| Yu-Jie | pure, beautiful |
| Yuan | Round. |
| Yue-Yan | Cheerful and beautiful |
Unisex Chinese Names
Below we have a list of Chinese names with their meanings, but that can be used by both men and women, unisex Chinese names:
- An means peace;
- Bao means treasure, jewel;
- Bo means wavy;
- Chen means interval of the day;
- Chun means born in spring;
- Guang means glorious;
- Heng means eternal;
- Huan means happiness;
- Hui means intelligent;
- Jiang means river;
- Liu means willow;
- Ming means enlightening;
- Ping means peaceful, stable;
- Qui means autumn;
- Shan means moderate;
- Shi means true;
- Xiang means fragrant or circulating in the air (like a bird);
- Xiaosheng means small birth;
- Xue means snow or scholar;
- Yanlin means swallow forest or Beijing forest;
Videos About Chinese Names
If you want to delve into Chinese names and their meanings, we will leave below some videos in different languages that explain details about the functioning and meaning of some names:
Chinese names are small, but they often carry a lot of meaning. Once you start paying attention to the characters, the whole naming style makes much more sense.
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