<p>For one character given name, I won't write only his/her given name in a letter in Chinese unless we are in a relationship. But in English, that is very normal. </p>

<p>Also I have several very close friends whose given names are one character. But I  won't call them given name in Chinese. On the contrary, if I mention him/her in English, I will use his/her given name directly. </p>

<p>And one thing I can tell you, I have two character given name. In China,  only my parents or my elder female relatives will call me my given name. My close friends call me nickname. </p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-04-09T16:57:01.180Z
2015-04-09T16:57:01.180Z
Yanfei Tang
<p>I live in the US but have friends I see in China, some of whom have one-character given names (that is "first" name in English usage, "second" name in Chinese usage).  I know that often people avoid using a one-character given name by itself since it lacks weight, as said by monalisa at <a href="https://chinese.stackexchange.com/questions/12984/how-should-a-professor-address-a-woman-student/12989#12989">How should a professor address a woman student?</a>.  So where a close friend might call 曾國藩 just 國藩, an equally close friend would call  张扬 by the full name. </p>

<p>But it seems that sometimes in conversations and in e-mails, Chinese people do call a friend by a one-character given name.  Am I mistaken to believe that?  Or is it just because the people I know have mostly worked and studied some in the west and they often use English in their work? Or is it something that only very close friends would do? </p>

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When do people use a one-character given name alone?
# When do people use a one-character given name alone?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2015-04-09)

I live in the US but have friends I see in China, some of whom have one-character given names (that is "first" name in English usage, "second" name in Chinese usage). I know that often people avoid using a one-character given name by itself since it lacks weight, as said by monalisa at [How should a professor address a woman student?](https://chinese.stackexchange.com/questions/12984/how-should-a-professor-address-a-woman-student/12989#12989). So where a close friend might call 曾國藩 just 國藩, an equally close friend would call 张扬 by the full name.

But it seems that sometimes in conversations and in e-mails, Chinese people do call a friend by a one-character given name. Am I mistaken to believe that? Or is it just because the people I know have mostly worked and studied some in the west and they often use English in their work? Or is it something that only very close friends would do?

**Tags:** terms-of-address

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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2015-04-09. Score: 2 | Accepted answer

For one character given name, I won't write only his/her given name in a letter in Chinese unless we are in a relationship. But in English, that is very normal.

Also I have several very close friends whose given names are one character. But I won't call them given name in Chinese. On the contrary, if I mention him/her in English, I will use his/her given name directly.

And one thing I can tell you, I have two character given name. In China, only my parents or my elder female relatives will call me my given name. My close friends call me nickname.


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