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This is awesome. My Chinese name is 司馬文 "Sima Wen", with the surname being that of several series of famous Chinese historians, emperors, and generals, and my

This is awesome. My Chinese name is 司馬文 "Sima Wen", with the surname being that of several series of famous Chinese historians, emperors, and generals, and my given name meaning culture. My teachers were very proud of that one because it closely resembles my English name and they said it sounded dignified. I can only assume they knew what they were talking about.

thaumasiotes 7y ago
Do you use that name with actual Chinese people, or is it more of a during-Chinese-class thing? I would feel weird about giving myself a rare and ultra-high-prestige name. But, I have no idea how the Chinese would perceive it.
- throwaway_bad 7y ago
  I would probably assume he's just really into Romance of the Three Kingdoms or other historical dramas where the 司馬 surname is common. Or that his real name is Zimmerman.
  - thaumasiotes 7y ago
    > Or that his real name is Zimmerman. I've read that a number of Chinese with the surname 欧阳 [Ouyang] logically chose the English surname O'Young, confusing a lot of people who were led by the name to expect someone more Irish.
  - kilo_bravo_3 7y ago
    I was a Chinese Mandarin linguist in the Army for five years, many, many years ago. My teachers at DLI were really into historical dramas. I'm more into shows with lasers and robots.
- morningseagulls 7y ago
  >I would feel weird about giving myself a rare and ultra-high-prestige name. Er... 司馬 isn't that rare, and people would rather advise you to select a rare but prestigious family name, rather than a rare and unknown one. It's like given names in English: if you pick a rare and unknown name (or even a common one with an unusual spelling), people are just going to go "huh?"
Camillo 7y ago
Simon Wayne?
thechao 7y ago
During my first attempt at grad school, my fellow students (all mainland Chinese) informed me my name was "ugly" in Chinese. So, I chose 田十牛 "Tián Shí Niú", after the fact I'm a bit from the country, and my favorite character's name (Number 10 Ox). They thought this was hilariously rustic.
em-bee 7y ago
i very much like how "martin" is translated into chinese: 马丁 not only captures the english sounds somewhat reasonably, but it also surprisingly captures the meaning in an interesting way: martin is based on mars, the god of war, and is also a famous figure in christian history as a roman soldier on a horse. the chinese characters are: 马(ma): horse, and 丁(ding):soldier you can hardly get any closer with a resemblance of the meaning in both languages.

thaumasiotes 7y ago

Do you use that name with actual Chinese people, or is it more of a during-Chinese-class thing? I would feel weird about giving myself a rare and ultra-high-prestige name. But, I have no idea how the Chinese would perceive it.

throwaway_bad 7y ago
I would probably assume he's just really into Romance of the Three Kingdoms or other historical dramas where the 司馬 surname is common. Or that his real name is Zimmerman.
- thaumasiotes 7y ago
  > Or that his real name is Zimmerman. I've read that a number of Chinese with the surname 欧阳 [Ouyang] logically chose the English surname O'Young, confusing a lot of people who were led by the name to expect someone more Irish.
- kilo_bravo_3 7y ago
  I was a Chinese Mandarin linguist in the Army for five years, many, many years ago. My teachers at DLI were really into historical dramas. I'm more into shows with lasers and robots.
morningseagulls 7y ago
>I would feel weird about giving myself a rare and ultra-high-prestige name. Er... 司馬 isn't that rare, and people would rather advise you to select a rare but prestigious family name, rather than a rare and unknown one. It's like given names in English: if you pick a rare and unknown name (or even a common one with an unusual spelling), people are just going to go "huh?"

Camillo 7y ago

Simon Wayne?

thechao 7y ago

During my first attempt at grad school, my fellow students (all mainland Chinese) informed me my name was "ugly" in Chinese. So, I chose 田十牛 "Tián Shí Niú", after the fact I'm a bit from the country, and my favorite character's name (Number 10 Ox). They thought this was hilariously rustic.

em-bee 7y ago

i very much like how "martin" is translated into chinese: 马丁 not only captures the english sounds somewhat reasonably, but it also surprisingly captures the meaning in an interesting way: martin is based on mars, the god of war, and is also a famous figure in christian history as a roman soldier on a horse. the chinese characters are: 马(ma): horse, and 丁(ding):soldier you can hardly get any closer with a resemblance of the meaning in both languages.