<p>There are some Chinese characters that have no practical meaning, they are only used for names. Such as &quot;娜&quot; and &quot;铖&quot;.</p>
<p>娜nà女子人名用字及译音字。</p>
<p>铖（鋮）chéng古人名用字。</p>
<p>In addition, the emperor of the Ming Dynasty created many characters, which were used to name the royal family members. They also have no practical meaning. Such as 鈦鋰鈹鎘釩. But these characters were used to name metal elements many years later.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-09-06T18:25:09.903Z
2021-09-06T18:25:09.903Z
CoolHermit
<p>I do not know the circumstances under which your former boss said her name has no meaning, but I do find it quite strange. Whatever the language, most names have meanings. Just think of the lengths to which parents go to to pick a good name for their child. Chinese names most certainly have meaning. Single-syllable names take the meaning from the written character. A two-syllable name (very common in Chinese) may not have a very direct meaning, easily translatable to one single unit, because the two characters may not be related. But each of the two characters definitely has meaning. And the meaning of the name will be derived from these two characters. If I knew how the two characters &quot;Wei Ping&quot; are written, I could probably tell you the meaning of them individually.</p>
<p>Just a wild guess on why she said her name has no meaning. Perhaps her parents never told her explicitly why they chose those two characters to be her name. So when she said her name had no meaning, she meant she didn't know the &quot;reason&quot; behind her name? You said English is her second language, so if her command of English is not very good, it is possible that she was not able to explain the meaning of the two characters in English. Maybe those were rather complicated characters?</p>
<p>Anyway, just my guess. Hope that helps.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-08-19T00:09:04.603Z
Contrary to your understanding, the two-word names are often meaningful, such as - "李如意 (吉祥如意)", "黃太平(太太平平)", 陳巧兒(靈巧的小ㄚ頭). My name "世開 - 開太平盛世". By the way, what "monalisa" means?
r13
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-08-19T00:26:44.303Z
IMO, John, Mary, David are interpretative names the same as mine, but the meaning of the rest of the Chinese names cited above can be figured out using a dictionary - the words form a phrase that means something.
r13
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-08-19T00:39:42.313Z
I said, a two-syllable name MAY NOT have a direct meaning easily translatable as one unit. I never ruled out the fact that in some cases they can have a complete, unified meaning. My whole point was, names are meaningful.
monalisa
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-08-19T00:42:45.370Z
FYI, Monalisa is my screen name. I took it from the painting "the Mona Lisa" by Da Vinci. Mona is an Italian word, contraction of "Madonna" meaning My Lady. Lisa is short for "Elizabeth" meaning God's promise.
monalisa
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-08-19T00:49:32.833Z
Names such as John, Mary and David cannot be easily figured out using an English dictionary because they have foreign roots. You will need to use a Hebrew dictionary to look up their original form in Hebrew. If you have a name such as Rose, then it's a lot easier to figure out.
monalisa
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-08-19T00:58:16.843Z
Yes, so I don't think they have a direct meaning, a meaning was assigned through interpretation. Note each Chinese word has a meaning but is not necessarily meaningful when used for names.
r13
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-08-19T01:28:43.460Z
I guess her name is "慧萍" a quite common name for Chinese females. You are correct, unless her parents told her the meaning she might now know it.
r13
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-08-19T03:21:58.977Z
Every Chinese character has meaning, (unless it's made-up just for fun), then, ipso facto, Chinese names should have a, or multiple, meanings, auspicious or otherwise. My name is made up of 鸿春, the former as an adjective means "Large or Grand", as a noun, a "Goose", and the latter means "Spring" The 鸿 is fixed being a common generation name, and 春 because I was born in Spring. So, I could say my name has no "meaning" because it resulted from a random confluence of circumstances rather than a conscious effort to imbue meaning. Of course you could say my name means "A Grand Spring Time"
Wayne Cheah
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-08-19T03:59:08.310Z
@r13 慧 is hui, not wei. Maybe 維？衛？微？蔚？Or maybe Wei is her family name 魏？韋？Hard to tell. Ping can be a whole list of different characters as well, 平 屏 萍 蘋 娉 or other less common options.
monalisa
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-08-19T14:14:20.110Z
@monalisa If it sounds as you suggest, 薇 will be my next guess, and yes, it could be her family name. It is not easy, but you can eliminate a lot of words that are not suitable for a woman's name.
r13
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-09-08T03:14:35.723Z
Is it rational to think that a Chinese parent would name a child without any thought whatsoever as to the possible meaning(s) the name might carry, whether positive or negative? Would you name your son 海龙王, though 龙 & 王 may be used for male names?
Wayne Cheah
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-08-18T23:35:12.623Z
2021-08-19T04:12:15.253Z
2021-08-19T04:12:15.253Z
monalisa
<p>Yes and no. Some are meaningful, some are not. It all depends on who named the names, wished the child to grow up to be, or keep in memory of a memorable thing, or event.</p>
<p>Note that you can also check the meaning of her name using a dictionary - meaning of word or phrase formed by two words identical to her name. It does not work all the time but often provides valuable clues.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-08-18T23:11:57.273Z
John, Mary, David are all names rooted in Hebrew. John: graced by God; Mary: bitter, wished-for-child, marine; David: beloved. These names, along with their cognate names in various European languages, all have distinct meaning.
monalisa
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-08-18T23:42:16.947Z
@monalisa You got me :)
r13
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-08-18T19:34:13.983Z
2021-08-19T00:42:33.753Z
2021-08-19T00:42:33.753Z
r13
<p>So, I worked for a lady originally from Shanghai, but operating a TCM health clinic in California. English is her second language. I never got the chance to clarify her statement to me when she told me her name has no meaning. My name is Nicole. She asked me what the meaning of my name was. I told her, &quot;victorious people&quot; this comes from Greek. Anyway, then she said that her name, Weiping, &quot;doesn't mean anything&quot; and she went on to say, &quot;our names don't mean anything&quot;. Btw, she brought the topic up altogether first by asking me about my name. Is this true? Chinese names don't mean anything? It's such a long history there with a ton of symbolism especially in TCM so I just don't understand this. What do you think she was talking about?</p>

<translation><names><shanghainese>
My boss from Shanghai said, her name "doesn't mean anything". I am confused!
# My boss from Shanghai said, her name "doesn't mean anything". I am confused!

(Asked by: username_0 on 2021-08-18)

So, I worked for a lady originally from Shanghai, but operating a TCM health clinic in California. English is her second language. I never got the chance to clarify her statement to me when she told me her name has no meaning. My name is Nicole. She asked me what the meaning of my name was. I told her, "victorious people" this comes from Greek. Anyway, then she said that her name, Weiping, "doesn't mean anything" and she went on to say, "our names don't mean anything". Btw, she brought the topic up altogether first by asking me about my name. Is this true? Chinese names don't mean anything? It's such a long history there with a ton of symbolism especially in TCM so I just don't understand this. What do you think she was talking about?

**Tags:** translation, names, shanghainese

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## 3 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2021-09-06. Score: 1

There are some Chinese characters that have no practical meaning, they are only used for names. Such as "娜" and "铖".

娜nà女子人名用字及译音字。

铖（鋮）chéng古人名用字。

In addition, the emperor of the Ming Dynasty created many characters, which were used to name the royal family members. They also have no practical meaning. Such as 鈦鋰鈹鎘釩. But these characters were used to name metal elements many years later.


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### Answer by username_2 on 2021-08-18. Score: 1

I do not know the circumstances under which your former boss said her name has no meaning, but I do find it quite strange. Whatever the language, most names have meanings. Just think of the lengths to which parents go to to pick a good name for their child. Chinese names most certainly have meaning. Single-syllable names take the meaning from the written character. A two-syllable name (very common in Chinese) may not have a very direct meaning, easily translatable to one single unit, because the two characters may not be related. But each of the two characters definitely has meaning. And the meaning of the name will be derived from these two characters. If I knew how the two characters "Wei Ping" are written, I could probably tell you the meaning of them individually.

Just a wild guess on why she said her name has no meaning. Perhaps her parents never told her explicitly why they chose those two characters to be her name. So when she said her name had no meaning, she meant she didn't know the "reason" behind her name? You said English is her second language, so if her command of English is not very good, it is possible that she was not able to explain the meaning of the two characters in English. Maybe those were rather complicated characters?

Anyway, just my guess. Hope that helps.

> **Comments:**
> **username_3**: Contrary to your understanding, the two-word names are often meaningful, such as - "李如意 (吉祥如意)", "黃太平(太太平平)", 陳巧兒(靈巧的小ㄚ頭). My name "世開 - 開太平盛世". By the way, what "monalisa" means?  
> **username_3**: IMO, John, Mary, David are interpretative names the same as mine, but the meaning of the rest of the Chinese names cited above can be figured out using a dictionary - the words form a phrase that means something.  
> **username_2**: I said, a two-syllable name MAY NOT have a direct meaning easily translatable as one unit. I never ruled out the fact that in some cases they can have a complete, unified meaning. My whole point was, names are meaningful.  
> **username_2**: FYI, Monalisa is my screen name. I took it from the painting "the Mona Lisa" by Da Vinci. Mona is an Italian word, contraction of "Madonna" meaning My Lady. Lisa is short for "Elizabeth" meaning God's promise.  
> **username_2**: Names such as John, Mary and David cannot be easily figured out using an English dictionary because they have foreign roots. You will need to use a Hebrew dictionary to look up their original form in Hebrew. If you have a name such as Rose, then it's a lot easier to figure out.  
> **username_3**: Yes, so I don't think they have a direct meaning, a meaning was assigned through interpretation. Note each Chinese word has a meaning but is not necessarily meaningful when used for names.  
> **username_3**: I guess her name is "慧萍" a quite common name for Chinese females. You are correct, unless her parents told her the meaning she might now know it.  
> **username_4**: Every Chinese character has meaning, (unless it's made-up just for fun), then, ipso facto, Chinese names should have a, or multiple, meanings, auspicious or otherwise. My name is made up of 鸿春, the former as an adjective means "Large or Grand", as a noun, a "Goose", and the latter means "Spring" The 鸿 is fixed being a common generation name, and 春 because I was born in Spring. So, I could say my name has no "meaning" because it resulted from a random confluence of circumstances rather than a conscious effort to imbue meaning. Of course you could say my name means "A Grand Spring Time"  
> **username_2**: @r13 慧 is hui, not wei. Maybe 維？衛？微？蔚？Or maybe Wei is her family name 魏？韋？Hard to tell. Ping can be a whole list of different characters as well, 平 屏 萍 蘋 娉 or other less common options.  
> **username_3**: @monalisa If it sounds as you suggest, 薇 will be my next guess, and yes, it could be her family name. It is not easy, but you can eliminate a lot of words that are not suitable for a woman's name.  
> **username_4**: Is it rational to think that a Chinese parent would name a child without any thought whatsoever as to the possible meaning(s) the name might carry, whether positive or negative? Would you name your son 海龙王, though 龙 & 王 may be used for male names?  

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### Answer by username_3 on 2021-08-18. Score: 0

Yes and no. Some are meaningful, some are not. It all depends on who named the names, wished the child to grow up to be, or keep in memory of a memorable thing, or event.

Note that you can also check the meaning of her name using a dictionary - meaning of word or phrase formed by two words identical to her name. It does not work all the time but often provides valuable clues.

> **Comments:**
> **username_2**: John, Mary, David are all names rooted in Hebrew. John: graced by God; Mary: bitter, wished-for-child, marine; David: beloved. These names, along with their cognate names in various European languages, all have distinct meaning.  
> **username_3**: @monalisa You got me :)  

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