Hello everybody. I have been been studying chinese in Denmark for one year, and I am now studying in Beijing.

My teacher gave me this name: 舒萌。 All the chinese people I meet keep telling me it is a girls name?(My teacher is chinese so I dont know why she would give me that name then?) I am guessing it is the 萌?

Obviously I am looking for a new name, since I dont want people to laugh when they hear my name..

My danish name is Simon. Anybody has any suggestions for better characters to use? Doesnt have to be the same pronunciacion. 明 should be better than 萌?

Thanks alot for any help.

Simon

Flowery names like 萌 are usually considered female. The standard transcription for "Simon" is usually 西蒙.

明 isn't uncommon, so you could use it as a replacement (and then maybe think about a replacement for 舒...).

蒙 in second tone can mean "ignorant" as an adjective. So to my non-Chinese eye 西蒙 looks like it could have the connotation of "ignorant Westerner".

How about 嗣 instead of 舒?

James

I'd rather advise against using characters with the pinyin "si", even if it's not third tone ...

What's wrong with being named ignorant westerner? Aren't most of us anyways? ;)

Some would consider it redundant. ;)

I just used a transliteration of Nick when I was in China. My teachers never did give me a Chinese name. 尼克 always was a bit humorously awkward for some of my Chinese friends. I asked them to come up with a better one. No one did, so I stuck with the transliteration. For people who can speak even a little bit of English, they would just use my actual name.

Nick你怎么样？什么什么什么。。。

That was always slightly humorous to me.

What no one has mentioned:

Don't feel obliged to make your Chinese name like your real name. Unless, of course, you're fond of the various transliterations thrust upon you.

Remember that someone named 张德峰 in China (Zhāng Défēng, a real Chinese friend of mine) may well be Dave (his given English name) in the USA. A while ago I met a young Chinese man who said his name was Beardsley. What?! Four years ago, my now-wife 刘柳 (Liú Liǔ) introduced herself to me as Sylvia. No relationship there.

I find most transliterations dumb and slightly annoying. A name is important... in English my full name is Murray James Morrison, and my friends all call me Murray James. In China of course this is impossible. I invented the ludicrous Chinese name 大米. And now my Chinese friends all call me this. I like it. 大米 is better than 母来、杰姆斯 and every other attempt at a name I've had foisted upon me.

All of which is to say: If you don't like how your Danish name is mispronounced in China, by all means invent your own name.

One possible exception is for professional reasons. 大米 is a great nickname, but it's not suitable for a work environment. I transliterated Morrison as 莫里森 for emergencies. So, 莫里森教授、莫里森博士、莫里森M.J., as needed.

Another transcription for "Simon" is 赛文.

Where in Denmark are you studying btw?

I have a Simon in my class who got the Simon part of his name translated into 思门 by a chinese teacher. I am far from having any knowledge about it being a good or a bad attempt.

I personally ended up with 安科. Anyone care to inform me if it's fitting for a male? :D

I would strongly suggest finding a Chinese person to give you more name options. Then show it (or several) to a number of different people. I showed my name around to people I knew and asked "Is this a good name?" until I was satisfied that it was not going to sound crazy to native Chinese speakers. I was spending a few months at Xiamen University at the time.

Thanks for the help. Yes think I am going to find some chinese people to help me find a good name. Just wanted some suggestions first to show them.

I am studying at Copenhagen University. This semester at Beida. It is very great here, even though people laugh about my name.. But the good thing is, I can just change it to what I like.

It can be fun to have a silly name, all the same, like James' 大米, it gives people something to talk about when they first meet you, so it can make people feel more comfortable around you (not always an easy task as a foreigner in China). I, for example, am perfectly happy being 胖龙. I know it's a ridiculous name, and nobody 姓胖, but it provides a fun topic to talk about when I meet people. For those people who try to second guess me for having a stupid name, I ask them if they know who 大山 is and if having a silly name ever stopped him.

Transliterations, sigh. I'm sick of having "Mitch" butchered into some form of "Mickey Mouse". I mean really...

I have been searching for the "right" name for 20 years. Still haven't found it yet. So I just tell people to use the nickname of 企鹅 (penguin). Once they've heard it, no-one ever forgets it. And my teachers in China quickly got used to it.

Put it this way, it's no crazier than some of the English names Chinese people have taken. For example, I know a girl whose name is "Dairy", because she couldn't choose between "Daisy" and "Mary".

You can use 孟 instead of 蒙.

I agree with the crazy names, they inflect them on us why not the other way around :)