Itchyfeet Posted November 15, 2004 at 04:54 PM Report Share Posted November 15, 2004 at 04:54 PM Hi, I am new to this site, although I've visited here to read other posts before. My Chinese teacher just gave me a name, which is 松 (song1) which at first I thought was fine... easy to remember, and a passable transliteration of my English name (Sean). But now I'm not so sure. She said it meant Pine tree, which she said refers to my being reliable and upstanding (which I don't believe for a second, and nor should anyone else). However, it apparently is also, as an adjective, a word for "lazy." Worse still, the surname she gave me was 学, making me 学松 ("xue3" bears very little resemblence to my surname, despite her assurances to the contrary) so is she trying to tell me something, ie that I am a lazy 学生? OK, it's completely true, but I'm not sure I want to advertise the fact (people should have to get to know me before they figure this much out). So, here's my question: is this name common, or does it imply that I'm slack? Or am I just paranoid? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quest Posted November 15, 2004 at 05:15 PM Report Share Posted November 15, 2004 at 05:15 PM 松 is fine, 学 is weird as a surname. 学松 is weird. You could replace 学 with 许 or 薛, and add another character to your name. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cutty Posted November 15, 2004 at 08:03 PM Report Share Posted November 15, 2004 at 08:03 PM 松 is a very good giving name. Chinese people like 松 since it's few of the trees can stay green during the cold winter. There are many poems and idioms about 松 : 岁寒三友: 松竹梅 大雪压青松, 青松挺且直. 要知松高节,待到雪化时. The last name is rare though, you may like to change as Quest's suggestion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skylee Posted November 15, 2004 at 11:25 PM Report Share Posted November 15, 2004 at 11:25 PM HAHA, I think again there is a confusion caused by using simplified characters. 松 is good for a name, meaning what your teacher has told you. Although it is also the simplified character for 鬆, which means loose/not tight and may mean lazy, when it appears in a name people know that it means "pine tree". 學 as a surname, interesting. Are you sure she didn't give you both "學" and "松" (two words, behave like/take after a pine tree) as your giving name? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Itchyfeet Posted November 16, 2004 at 01:17 PM Author Report Share Posted November 16, 2004 at 01:17 PM Thanks everyone for the help. I feel pretty happy with 松 now. My teacher definately meant 学 as a surname. But I've taken your advice on board, and decided at least for now to use 许. A friend suggested I use 山 as a second part of my given name, which I can then drop - if I want - after formally introducing myself. I didn't know this was the done thing, but he seemed pretty sure it was fine, like the Chinese equivalent of "Dave" for "David," "Matt" for "Matthew" etc etc. So this makes me 许松山. Hello world. 'Tis ok? Thanks again guys, very much appreciated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lu Posted November 22, 2004 at 11:56 AM Report Share Posted November 22, 2004 at 11:56 AM 松山 sounds like the name of a place to me. In fact, there is a place in Taipei with that name. Also, in informal Chinese usually the first part of the name is dropped, not the second part. It is then replaced with 小 or 阿 or duplicated. Calling someone with only one character is something I never heard. 许松山 would become 小山 or 阿山, not 小松. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Itchyfeet Posted November 24, 2004 at 02:41 PM Author Report Share Posted November 24, 2004 at 02:41 PM Yeah, I guess I don't really like the idea of being named after a location. Lu, do you think I should just stick to xu3 song1 then (sorry, the computer I'm using at the moment cannot do Chinese input), or add a more suitable second character? BTW, I am a bit surprised that what my friend told me is wrong, since he is Chinese born. Then again, he has been in Australia pretty much his entire life, so I guess that explains it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quest Posted November 24, 2004 at 11:42 PM Report Share Posted November 24, 2004 at 11:42 PM Can you tell us your last name? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gingersoup Posted November 25, 2004 at 11:09 AM Report Share Posted November 25, 2004 at 11:09 AM Hi, as an native chinese speaker, I think "学松" is a very good name. Since some one already made a very good explanation about the meaning of "松", I'm not going to repeat then. I think it is a brilliant idea to make "学" as a surname to you. First, "学" means "study". You are studying chinese, aren't you? Second, putting "学" and "松" together, it will give your name a meaning as "learn from the pine tree's spirit (stay green during the cold winter)". In other words, it means "hope you will be like the pine tree be strong at all the time, no matter how cold the winter will be." Thirdly, I think you guys do not need an chinese surname. In Chinese culture, people will not change their surname forever. Have you ever seen any chinese people changed their surname to a western surname? I haven't seen any though. I have "Nicole" as my English name, but my last name is still "Chen 陈". You will still be using your english name in your passport and all other formal documents, right? Chinese name for you guys may just be an nickname for people to call. As Chinese, we do the same thing you guys do. Look up dictionary or ask somebody to give us an english name, but never english surname. If you really want a Chinese charactor to put in your chinese surname spot, i think you can just pick up whatever you want it to be. You don't need to think about whether this charactor is formally used as chinese surname by chinese people or not. Above are just what I think. Sorry about my poor english. Hope you guys will catch what I mean. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Itchyfeet Posted November 29, 2004 at 02:58 PM Author Report Share Posted November 29, 2004 at 02:58 PM Thanks gingersoup. I understood what you mean, and you made some really good points. At the moment I will just stick with 松, and worry about the rest later. Thanks again all for your help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lu Posted December 6, 2004 at 07:18 AM Report Share Posted December 6, 2004 at 07:18 AM Gingersoup, usually when a foreigner gets a Chinese name, he/she gets both a surname and a given name. At least I've never met a foreigner who has a Chinese given name but a foreign surname. I guess you can pick any character you like as a surname, but personally I think it looks better if you pick an existing surname. But that's just my opinion, I do know some foreigners who have surnames that are not really surnames. Xu Song looks like a very good name to me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Comrade Yixian Posted December 7, 2004 at 05:43 PM Report Share Posted December 7, 2004 at 05:43 PM The whole idea of giving names ounds wonderful to me, how exactly do you translate them? My real name is Kieran, Irish, which means 'dark one', but it's damn hard translating that. Charecteristics people describe me as are usually along the lines of "dreamer" or "idealist", which can be taken as either a complement or insult in different situations, again making a translation very different I'd love to have a romantic name like warrior" or "justice" or something like that, but alas, nobody has ever described me as such ;) Haha Anyway so yeah, someone give me a name damn it! Well this is my name translated literally: Seems a little long, and doesn't say anything about my personality. Oh and am I right in thinking that the second charecter is a variation of "small" or "little"? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skylee Posted December 7, 2004 at 11:42 PM Report Share Posted December 7, 2004 at 11:42 PM Oh and am I right in thinking that the second charecter is a variation of "small" or "little"? No. The second character is the simplified version of 爾, and has nothing to do with 小 (little/small). Instead of being the dark one, how about being the lovely/nice/benevolent one -> 可仁 (ke3 ren2)? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Comrade Yixian Posted December 8, 2004 at 03:33 PM Report Share Posted December 8, 2004 at 03:33 PM Hmm, sounds good. How would you pronounce my literal translation anyhow? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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