Chinese Names

Chinese Names posts explain the structure of a Chinese name, with the family name first and the given name second, and the way many given names carry literal meaning. Articles look at the hundred old surnames, the difference between a generation name and a personal name in older clan registers, why some characters are reserved for boys or girls, and the long shift away from political names of the Mao era. There is also a piece on the difficulty of romanising Chinese into English and the choice between Wade-Giles, Pinyin and the older postal map names.