Chinese names for western people
OK, so how does this work? In essence, I've heard of 3 different ways:
1. Look (listen) for the characters that sound like your name. In my case, google translator actually says 卡斯滕 is my first name, and it certainly sounds a bit like Carsten.
2. Look for the meaning of your name. In my case, it means I'm a follower of Jesus (which I'm not really, but anyways), the German word is "der Gesalbte". If I translate that, I get 弥赛亚, which basically means messiah if I'm not mistaken. Seriously? ;-)
3. Look for characters you like. Eeeh...so can I chose a name like 一二三?
I'm really wondering what Chinese people think about this. You guys often have western stile names, but what about western people taking Chinese names? Moreover, is there like an official way to get a Chinese name, or is it nothing more than a nickname?
Search from various English teachers...
Corrections · 3
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Ich meine, in Anbetracht des Verlustes der Bedeutung, phonetische Transkription ist nicht eine gute Weise. Personennamen sind nicht nur ein Symbol, sondern äußert sich auch das Gefühl oder Belieben von Menschen. Manche deutsche Missionare haben sinnvolle chinesische Namen, z.B. Johann Adam Schall von Bell(汤若望，Tang Ruowang)，Johann Schreck(邓玉函，Deng Yuhan)，Richard Wilhelm(卫礼贤，Wei Lixian). In diesen Namen, die Phonetik und Bedeutung sind geleich berücksichtigt.
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Some friends pick the name which sounds like their original name and also they pick the characters they like.It is better to have a brainstorm with friends.
Mach Spaß.
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Actually you don't need a Chinese name. Many people in Shanghai (are you going to shanghai?) can pronounce "Carsten" without any problem. If you really want to have a Chinese name, 卡斯滕 is OK. But I suggest that you pick out 2 or 3 characters with the meaning you like from a dictionary or whatever. Better if the combination of them sounds like your German. But it doesn't matter if it doesn't. You can still make it better during your study in China.
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