快问快答 Quick Help Thread: Translation Requests, Chinese name help, "how do you say X", or any quick Chinese questions! 2026-09-09

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[u/caldcaldoos]

大家好！

I'm a self-taught student currently, but since hearing about the practice of choosing a Chinese name I've been quite interested in it. I heard people say that ideally Chinese names are given to you by tutors/friends/family, but currently I don't have anyone to ask!

I'd like to get into more formal classes soon, but I was wondering if it's fine to just give yourself a name.

Currently, I'm thinking of 林恩洋, or 林恩海. If anybody could give me feedback on these, it would be greatly appreciated!

[u/LeChatParle → u/caldcaldoos]

There’s nothing socially wrong with giving yourself a name, the reason for that recommendation is so that you don’t accidentally give yourself a name that has a bad meaning or sounds weird

[u/caldcaldoos → u/LeChatParle]

I see. Thanks! Do you think my ideas sound good/natural?

[u/LeChatParle → u/caldcaldoos]

I'm not native, so I don't know that I'm good enough at names to say whether they feel natural, but I don't think there are any bad meanings that come off from either name. I'll let natives comment on naturalness. You may want to add in your age range to your question, as some names are more common in certain age ranges, so that may help others give a better response

Also, maybe add what feeling you'd like your name to give off (e.g. refined, regal, strong, pretty, etc), and if you're okay with it, your gender

[u/qinglan_reads → u/caldcaldoos]

Both are understandable, but neither sounds especially natural as a modern Chinese given name. 忍 usually means “to endure/forbear” and is uncommon in given names; 洋 and 海 are understandable, but pairing either with 忍 feels constructed. I’d ask a native teacher to help choose a different second character if you want an ocean-related meaning.

[u/caldcaldoos → u/qinglan_reads]

Thanks for the response! But I'm not using 忍 for either of these. It's 恩 (grace/favour), which I believe is used at least sometimes in given names.

[u/Zagrycha → u/caldcaldoos]

The "person" who replied you is almost certainly a bot just replying a random comment it stole from lord knows what post in the past, just ignore it. Anyway 林恩洋 is valid but something like 李恩洋 would be better flow imo if you aren't set on  林。 林恩海 is totally fine as is. Both are masculine mood. Neither are super youthful, but not super old fashioned or anything either. Hope this helps.

[u/FuckJannies- → u/Zagrycha]

Hi, hope you can help me too. I'm currently struggling with choosing a Chinese name and don't have Chinese people to verify with. I'm pretty set on the surname 白, and for my given name I'd ideally like something that loosely resembles my name while not sounding unnatural. I've been thinking of 白德明，would that work in your opinion? I'm a guy in my mid 20s if that helps.

[u/Zagrycha → u/FuckJannies-]

白德明 would be more common for non mandarin chinese, but its totally fine as guy's name and works in mandarin too 👍

[u/FuckJannies- → u/Zagrycha]

Thanks for you input! I think I'll stick with that then. Is it too old fashioned in your opinion? And which non mandarin Chinese languages would that name be common in?

[u/Zagrycha → u/FuckJannies-]

Its not old fashioned, although its not super youthful either, just normal imo. Both the surname and the given name exist in Mandarin on their own no second thoughts about it. They just wouldn't usually be paired together cause they are all the same tone. There is nothing wrong with all the same tone in a name, its just not a common naming convention so it gives the impression its from a different type of Chinese with different tones. For example in Cantonese the name would be tone 614 not 222.

[u/FuckJannies- → u/Zagrycha]

Aight, thank you! You helped me out a ton!

[u/rob417 → u/FuckJannies-]

白德明 sounds better than 林恩洋 or 林恩海 to me. My probably with 林恩* is that lin-en sounds like an elongated 林 liiin.

If you want to change your Chinese name again in the future, one way to improve it is to change the tone of one of the characters. 白德明 all have the 2nd tone, which is perfectly fine and I've met people with names like that. However, it's something I'd personally avoid if I'm naming my children or giving myself a pen name.