- published: 14 Apr 2015
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Chinese personal names (Chinese: 姓名, xìngmíng) are the names adopted by the citizens of the Republic and People's Republic of China and the Chinese diaspora overseas. They arose from the culture of the Han people. In some cases, the term may also refer to Chinese names adopted or used to refer to people from other areas.
Chinese names typically consist of three syllables – a monosyllabic family name and a disyllabic given name – with each syllable having a particular tone and being written as a single Chinese character. About one in seven people have a two-syllable name, but fewer than ⅕ of one percent – many of them ethnic minorities – have a name of four or more syllables.
Chinese names originated the Eastern ordering of names, where the family name precedes the given name. A boy called Wei (伟) and belonging to the Zhang (张) family – currently China's most common single name – is called "Zhang Wei" and not "Wei Zhang" (unless he's travelling abroad). It is standard for the Chinese to address one another – especially those with two-character names – by using full names. Normally, Zhang Wei would be formally addressed as "Mr. Zhang" (not "Mr. Wei") but even informally he would be addressed as "Zhang Wei" and not "Wei".