Chinese Given Names

The Chinese given name (first name) composed of one or two words in most cases is located behind the surname. The given name in China is usually with some meanings to express good wishes. It’s mostly given by the parents or seniors of a family. Some of the given name may show the person’s birth location, time or weather condition, such as 晨(with the meaning of Morning ) and 雪 (means Snow). Some was named with the hope to be blessed with some kind of virtue, such as 忠 (loyal), 信 (trustworthy), 礼 (polite) etc. Also, some may with the hope of health (健), longevity (寿) or happiness (福).

For male and female, the given name has different characters. For male, the words like ‘力’, ‘伟’, ‘勇’, ‘猛’ are usually used to show force, greatness, intrepidity and valor in given name. In opposite, words with the meaning of beauty, elegant, aroma, flower, jade etc. are mostly selected for female. 

According to statistics, before the 2000s, the given name for the Chinese people is mostly composed of one word. However, after that period, more people use two words for their given names. The change is mainly caused by the large population of China and too many duplicated names. One word given name is easy to call but also easy to be duplicate with others. Two-word one is mostly used now in China and also is a must in some places for new-born babies. Following are the percentage of given names with one word for female and male in different periods of China. From the statistic, you could clearly see the change:

Year	Male	Female
1960s	55%	35%
1970s	46%	43%
1980s	46%	42%
1990s	52%	44%
2000s	19%	17%
2011	17%	13%
2012	13%	10%
2013	10%	8%

Following are top 20 given names with the most numbers now in China. You can also get their meanings and numbers from the table below.

Top 20 Mostly Used Given Names in China
Rank	Word	Meaning	Number	Rank	Word	Meaning	Numbers
1	英	Brave	41000153	11	红	Red	21763316
2	华	Gorgeous	35266889	12	丽	Beautiful	21685739
3	玉	Jade	34243152	13	小	Small	21221614
4	秀	Elegant	32120854	14	梅	Plum	20540086
5	文	Literate	29623154	15	云	Cloud	19931270
6	明	Bright	28531253	16	芳	Aromatous	19813046
7	兰	Orchid	25703851	17	平	Peaceful	19778348
8	金	Gold	22224840	18	海	Sea	19563097
9	国	Country	22112399	19	珍	Precious	19420570
10	春	Spring	22103501	20	荣	prosperous	19352187

Chinese given names in different periods show different traits. Some of them have characteristics of the times. For example, during the 1960s and 1970s, Chinese people adored devotion too much. Therefore, most of the people have the names like建国 (Building the State), 建军 (building army) etc. During the 1980s to 1990s, personal striving was paid great attention during the Chinese people’s life. So, the given names for people born during this period are mostly direct, plain and easy to be duplicated. After the 2000s, the given names are more liberal and diversified.

List of Common Given Names from 1960s to Present for Male, Boy
Rank	1960s	1970s	1980s	1990s	2000s	After 2010
1	军	勇	伟	超	涛	子轩
2	勇	军	磊	伟	浩	浩宇
3	伟	伟	勇	涛	鑫	浩然
4	建国	强	超	磊	杰	博文
5	建华	涛	涛	鹏	俊杰	宇轩
6	建军	刚	强	杰	磊	子涵
7	平	建军	鹏	强	宇	雨泽
8	建平	波	军	浩	鹏	皓轩
9	斌	斌	杰	鑫	帅	浩轩
10	强	辉	亮	帅	超	梓轩
List of Common Given Names from 1960s to Present for Female, Girl
Rank	1960s	1970s	1980s	1990s	2000s	After 2010
1	秀英	丽	静	静	婷	子涵
2	桂英	艳	丽	婷	静	欣怡
3	英	敏	娟	婷婷	颖	梓涵
4	玉兰	芳	艳	敏	婷婷	晨曦
5	秀兰	静	燕	丹	雪	紫涵
6	萍	红梅	敏	丽	敏	诗涵
7	玉梅	霞	娜	雪	悦	梦琪
8	红	燕	芳	倩	倩	嘉怡
9	丽	红	丹	艳	洁	子萱
10	敏	英	玲	娟	雨欣	雨涵