<p>Probably it is because it was a leap year (闰年). 闰 and 润 have same pronunciation, which is similar to English word 'ruin' (even the tone is the same) but shorter.</p>
<p>闰 means intercalation and 润 means moist, smooth literally and nurturing, nourishing/nourished prosperity and affluence figuratively. 润 is often a good word and commonly used in people and organization names.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-02-20T09:59:41.637Z
have preceding comments not already said the same thing?
user6065
CC BY-SA 4.0
2015-02-20T01:53:18.833Z
2020-11-20T23:44:29.843Z
2020-11-20T23:44:29.843Z
user1228520
<p>Yeah, Reechen is right, more like 'ru in' said quickly. </p>

<p>Ask a Chinese to say 'under' and they will often say 'wunder', because 'u' is 'wu' when followed by a consonant in Pinyin, which is Chinese sounds written with Roman letters. The combination of phonemes 'g wu n' often seems to produce a sound like 'g win' or 'gwu in' in some speakers. It is pretty hard for anyone to say 'rw' or 'r wu n' so I suppose that is why it comes out a bit like 'rin' sometimes.</p>

<p>Ask a Chinese to say 'wood' and their lips will get tangled and produce a sound like 'ud'. I like doing that with my girlfriend! 'What's it made of?' Until she hits me of course.</p>

<p>滚 is written in Pinyin 'gun' but is pronounced 'gwun'. It means something like PFO.</p>

<p>利润 (lirun) means profits. 润 can also mean embellish, so together maybe 润润 is 'a profitable embellishment for our lives'</p>

<p>You can't read too much into names though. I know a girl called 杨一， so her first name as we see it is '一‘ = ’yi' = 1。'Your the one for me.'!</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-02-19T23:38:29.670Z
2015-02-19T23:38:29.670Z
Pedroski
<p>My young niece, whose birthday is in principle coming up at the end of the month (Feb 29), is named 润润. When I look it up in Google Translate, it returns “wet”.  Other dictionaries show the same thing, <a href="http://www.chinese-names.net/word/%E6%B6%A6" rel="nofollow">even a guide that is specific to names</a>.</p>

<p>Does this have some other meaning such as an idiom or context-specific usage, or is it a pretty sound, or what?  </p>

<p>Also, how is it properly pronounced? I hear a short vowel sometimes like the word “in”, but also seems to sound very close to “run” more often.  Given that English is tone deaf, what at least is the best American English sound to use?</p>

<p>(They are in Kunming, Yunan. I don't know the differences between college Mandarin and local Yunaneese, but that's another question.)</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-02-19T11:18:45.600Z
润rùn      闰年 rùn nián leap year
user6065
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-02-19T15:11:30.540Z
润 has other meanings, including: smooth, moist, but also benefit, profit. Google Translate is not a dictionary, it's a premature machine translation app. The preferred pronunciation depends on where your niece's family comes from (most notably the difference between Mandarin Chinese and Cantonese Chinese).
imrek
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-02-19T17:23:00.200Z
What about that name guide? It doesn't explain why it is common in given names, but just gives the (same) meanings.
JDługosz
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-02-19T19:00:47.183Z
S.Rhee means that the name might be a pun between the character used 润 and the character for leap [year] 闰. Pronunciation is more similar to the English "ruin" than "run"
Colin
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-02-19T19:50:56.947Z
If rùn  then you pronounce like ren as in rend except no d sound
Huangism
<names>
What is the meaning and translation of my niece's name?
# What is the meaning and translation of my niece's name?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2015-02-19)

My young niece, whose birthday is in principle coming up at the end of the month (Feb 29), is named 润润. When I look it up in Google Translate, it returns “wet”. Other dictionaries show the same thing, [even a guide that is specific to names](http://www.chinese-names.net/word/%E6%B6%A6).

Does this have some other meaning such as an idiom or context-specific usage, or is it a pretty sound, or what?

Also, how is it properly pronounced? I hear a short vowel sometimes like the word “in”, but also seems to sound very close to “run” more often. Given that English is tone deaf, what at least is the best American English sound to use?

(They are in Kunming, Yunan. I don't know the differences between college Mandarin and local Yunaneese, but that's another question.)

**Tags:** names
> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: 润rùn      闰年 rùn nián leap year  
> **username_2**: 润 has other meanings, including: smooth, moist, but also benefit, profit. Google Translate is not a dictionary, it's a premature machine translation app. The preferred pronunciation depends on where your niece's family comes from (most notably the difference between Mandarin Chinese and Cantonese Chinese).  
> **username_0**: What about that name guide? It doesn't explain why it is common in given names, but just gives the (same) meanings.  
> **username_3**: S.Rhee means that the name might be a pun between the character used 润 and the character for leap [year] 闰. Pronunciation is more similar to the English "ruin" than "run"  
> **username_4**: If rùn  then you pronounce like ren as in rend except no d sound  

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## 2 answers

### Answer by username_5 on 2015-02-20. Score: 5

Probably it is because it was a leap year (闰年). 闰 and 润 have same pronunciation, which is similar to English word 'ruin' (even the tone is the same) but shorter.

闰 means intercalation and 润 means moist, smooth literally and nurturing, nourishing/nourished prosperity and affluence figuratively. 润 is often a good word and commonly used in people and organization names.

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: have preceding comments not already said the same thing?  

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### Answer by username_6 on 2015-02-19. Score: -2

Yeah, Reechen is right, more like 'ru in' said quickly.

Ask a Chinese to say 'under' and they will often say 'wunder', because 'u' is 'wu' when followed by a consonant in Pinyin, which is Chinese sounds written with Roman letters. The combination of phonemes 'g wu n' often seems to produce a sound like 'g win' or 'gwu in' in some speakers. It is pretty hard for anyone to say 'rw' or 'r wu n' so I suppose that is why it comes out a bit like 'rin' sometimes.

Ask a Chinese to say 'wood' and their lips will get tangled and produce a sound like 'ud'. I like doing that with my girlfriend! 'What's it made of?' Until she hits me of course.

滚 is written in Pinyin 'gun' but is pronounced 'gwun'. It means something like PFO.

利润 (lirun) means profits. 润 can also mean embellish, so together maybe 润润 is 'a profitable embellishment for our lives'

You can't read too much into names though. I know a girl called 杨一， so her first name as we see it is '一‘ = ’yi' = 1。'Your the one for me.'!


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