DAY 12: What’s your surname? 您贵姓？

In today’s lesson, we will find out how to ask one’s last name so regarding resolve him or her such as Mr. or Ms. so and so.

Lesson Audio Testimonial

Dialogue

A:	您	贵	姓	？
	Nín	guì	xìng	?

What is your surname?

Listen

B:	我	姓	王	，	你	呢	？
	Wǒ	xìng	Wáng	,	nǐ	ne	.

My surname is Wang, what about you?

Listen

A:	我	姓	陈	，	很	高兴	认识	您	。
	Wǒ	xìng	Chén	,	Hěn	gāoxìng	rènshi	nín	.

My surname is Chen. Nice to meet you.

Listen

B:	我	也	很	高兴	认识	您	。
	Wǒ	yě	hěn	gāoxìng	rènshi	nín	.

I am also very happy to meet you.

Listen

A:	您	贵	姓	？
	Nín	guì	xìng	?

What is your surname?

Listen

B:	我	姓	李	，	你	呢	？
	Wǒ	xìng	Lǐ	,	nǐ	ne	.

My surname is Li, what about you?

Listen

A:	我	姓	刘	。	李	先生	，	您	好	！
	Wǒ	xìng	Liú	.	Lǐ	xiānsheng	,	nín	hǎo	!

My surname is Liu. Hello, Mr. Li!

Listen

B:	刘	女士	，	你	好	！
	Liú	nǚshì	,	nǐ	hǎo	!

Hello! Ms. Liu.

Listen

A:	您	贵	姓	？
	Nín	guì	xìng	?

What is your surname?

Listen

B:	我	姓	王	。
	Wǒ	xìng	Wáng	.

My surname is Wang。

Listen

Expansion

How to give yourself a real Chinese name?

The Formation of a Chinese Name

Different from English names, in a Chinese name, the surname comes first, and then is followed by the given name:

e.g.	Surname + Given name
	陈	平
	chén	píng
	surname	given name
	王	梦婷
	wáng	mèng tíng

Listen

As you see, the Chinese names can be two-characters or three-characters . It’s not so common to have four-characters in a Chinese name whereas it’s more common in the Japanese culture.

The Top 10 Common 10 Chinese Surnames are:
1	李	6	杨
	lǐ		yáng
2	王	7	赵
	wáng		zhào
3	张	8	黄
	zhāng		huáng
4	刘	9	周
	liú		zhōu
5	陈	10	吴
	chén		wú

Listen

The Connotation Carried by the Name

Each given name has carried the parent’s hope for the child, or what kind of person they wish their child to become in the future. Besides the consideration of the meaning, they also take account into the characters’ pronunciation to make the name sound good to listen.

Here let’s see a few examples:

Female name	Character	Connotation	Possible Chinese female name
	佳	excellent and good	王佳
	jiā	excellent and good	wáng jiā
	静	quiet	刘静
	jìng	quiet	liú jìng
	丽	beautiful	李丽
	lì	beautiful	lǐ lì
	梦	dream	陈梦
	mèng	dream	chén mèng

Listen

Male name	Character	Connotation	Possible Chinese female name
	龙	dragon	赵龙
	lóng	dragon	zhào lóng
	强	strong	张强
	qiáng	strong	zhāng qiáng
	伟	great	周伟
	wěi	great	zhōu wěi
	晨	morning	杨晨
	chén	morning	yáng chén

Listen

Now time to give yourself a real Chinese name!

Now you know how a Chinese name looks like. We suggest you to pick up the surname first, for example, if your own name begins with the letter L, you can choose 刘 (liú) as a surname. And for the given name, please think well what kind of image you want to convey to the person, or what kind of person you want to become. After you come up with the key words for your name, for example, you want your name sound like that you are a clever and smart person, then you can search the related Chinese meaning in the dictionary, for instance, clever can be 聪(cōng) or 睿 (ruì), but please seek advice from your native Chinese friends to double check before you finalise your name!

Grammar

Asking one’s surname in a business context / to the elderly person

China is one of the countries in the world who attaches great importance to politeness. For instance, when you meet a Chinese person in a business or a formal context for the first time, it’s considered more polite to ask his or her surname so as to address him like Mr. Zhang or Ms. Wang, rather than directly call him or her by their surnames.

Ask Surname	Question	您	贵	姓？
		nín	guì	xìng
		You	honorable	surname?
	Answer	我	姓	陈.
		wǒ	xìng	chén
		I	am surnamed	Chen.
Ask Full Name	Question	你	叫	什么	名字？
		nǐ	jiào	shén me	míng zi？
		You	are called	what	name?
	Answer	我	叫	陈平.
		wǒ	jiào	chén píng.
		I	am called	Chen Ping.

Listen

And you can NEVER SAY IT like this:

我	贵	姓	陈.	Ⅹ
wǒ	guì	xìng	chén
I	honorably	am surnamed	Chen.

Listen

Instead, you should say:

我	姓	陈.	√
wǒ	xìng	chén
I	am surnamed	Chen.

Listen

Besides, we can also ask 您 / 你姓什么？nín / nǐ xìng shén me (Literally you are surnamed what?) to ask one’s surname if in a more casual context.

你 / 您	姓	什么？
nín / nǐ	xìng	shén me?
You	are surnamed	what?

Listen

The degree of formality from low to high is as follows:

ExpressMr., Ms., and Miss in Chinese

Like in English, to address a Chinese person who you meet in a formal context, we can call him or her Mr. Ms. or Miss. In Chinese, we use the surname + Mr. / Ms. / Miss, the structure is as follows:

e.g.	Surname + xiān sheng (先生 Mr. )
	陈	先生	Mr. Chen
	chén	xiān sheng
e.g.	Surname + nǚ shì (女士 Ms. )
	刘	女士	Ms. Liu
	liú	nǚ shì
e.g.	Surname + xiǎo jiě (小姐 Miss )
	张	小姐	Miss Zhang
	zhāng	xiǎo jiě