Challenging Naming Task... For Serious Name Nerds Only

Boy Names
1

I am having the hardest time getting my wife excited about any of our boy name options. Of all the names we’ve discussed (which has been a lot) she by far likes [name]Kian[/name] the best (with the Persian pronunciation of key-yawn), and it’s the only one she’s been excited about. She still comes back to it whenever we discuss names, and it is very clearly her favorite (I came to that realization very clearly tonight). I like this name quite a lot and would be fine with using it, however, I feel it sounds too similar to our first son’s name, Rayhan (ray-hawn), which makes me feel it’s unusable for us.
Q1) [name]Do[/name] you think the two names (Rayhan (ray-hawn) and [name]Kian[/name] (key-yawn)) are too similar sounding?

Over time, she seems to be getting less and less on board with any of my favorite names (came to that realization tonight— which is a minor tragedy, as my top names are seriously awesome— [name]Emrys[/name], [name]Evander[/name], [name]Amias[/name], [name]Jasper[/name]), and is now at the point where she just wants me to choose the ‘English’ name and she’ll choose a different ‘Chinese’ name (our kid is 1/2 Chinese, we live in [name]China[/name]). I’d do this if we have no other choice, but I really don’t like this idea. I want to choose a name in unity (and so does she), one that we both love (for both the ‘English’ name and Chinese name). I’d rather make the decision(s) in unity even if it meant using a name I don’t like as much as my top top choices, rather than using one of my top choices but not in complete unity.

(Note: With our first son, his Chinese name (which has a great meaning in Chinese) is pronounced exactly the same (ray-hawn) as Rayhan (which is also a very meaningful name in Arabic, Persian and Sanskrit), so his Chinese name is also his regular given name. I don’t know if that’ll be possible this time around (because it’s REALLY hard to find a name that fits that specific criteria, so it’s pretty unlikely-- though we were able to do it for our female name choice this time around)).

[name]One[/name] of the reasons she likes [name]Kian[/name] so much, is that as well as liking the name itself a lot, she also came up with a similar sounding Chinese name (with a great meaning) that she also really loves.

As such, my current (really difficult) task is to take Chinese characters and try to combine them into names that could work in both [name]China[/name] and [name]America[/name] (and elsewhere) as really great names (not just that they’d work, but that it’d make a really great name… I’m a picky name kind of person), in the hope that this will lead me to find a name that my wife can be excited about.

So I’ve made a list of some of my favorite name ‘sounds’ in Chinese and have been trying to piece them together into really great names, but have been having some trouble. The only names I’ve found, that I like above a low-mediocre level, that seem to have the potential to sound almost exactly the same in Chinese are [name]Jonah[/name] and [name]Bolan[/name]. Perhaps you can find some other options that I’m missing (?).

Here are some sounds from Chinese characters (combining one, two or three characters (syllables) together are all okay in Chinese naming, but a four character/syllable given name wouldn’t work).
Q2) Can you come up with any names using combinations from these sounds (doesn’t have to be exact to the sounds below, but at least pretty close)? (Note: Spell it however, I’m just giving you the general sounds here (the ‘pinyin’ is in the (), just in case any of you actually know some Chinese)

[name]Leo[/name] (liu)
[name]Kai[/name] (kai)
[name]Beau[/name] (bo)
[name]Lynn[/name] (lin)
[name]Joe[/name] (zhou)
De (de)
[name]Dow[/name] (dao)
Fen (fen)
Lan (lan)
Na (na)
[name]Ty[/name] (tai)
Eye (ai)
Ke (ke)
Ee (yi)
[name]Hi[/name] (hai)
Ba (ba)
[name]Faye[/name] (fei)
[name]Wren[/name] (ren)
[name]Lee[/name] (li)
Khan (kan)
Coon (kun)
Show (shou)
Too (tu)
You-n (yun)
Shoe-n (xun)
Bye (bai)
Bing (bing)
When (wen)
Loon (lun)
Dong (dong)
She (xi)
Lye (lai)
Fan (fan)
Fawng (fang)
Ge (ge)
Gehn (gen)
Gway (gui)
Way (wei)
Hong (hong)
Hway (hui)
Leeawng (liang)
Ching (qing)
Gene (jin)
G-N (jian)
May (mei)
You (yu)
June (jun)
Long (long)
Meng (meng)
Tz (zi)
Pay (pei)
Ping (ping)
Peng (peng)
Chee (qi)
Cheeoww (qiao)
Shawn (shan)
Shoe (shu)
Wrong (rong)
U-N (yuan)
Song (song)
Mean (min)
Yawn (yan)
Sheen (xin)
Shway (xue)
Yea (ye)
Yo (you)
How (hao)
Yawng (yang)
Row (rou)

Lots of other Chinese ‘pinyin’ of characters that work in given names could be found at Chinese male Boy Baby Names from China

For any of you that are able to put in the time/energy to help out with my unique naming challenge, I am very grateful!

2

[name]Sunday[/name] afternoon puzzle! The first one I see is Leolin which is the Anglicized version of [name]Llywelyn[/name], meaning lion or leader. Then there’s [name]Faolan[/name], Irish meaning wolf. I’ll have a think, and see if I can come up with some more. This is fun!

3

I see Renly could be made from the ren & li sounds. Game of Thrones fan? [name]Will[/name] think about any other possibilities!

4

[name]Bodhi[/name]? Super spiritual (means enlightenment in Sanskrit if I remember correctly).

5

Oh Javad, you’re trying so hard. More than most husbands. I’m feeling your pain. :slight_smile: Let me see what I can come up with for you. They might not be exact but they’ll be close enough.

[name]Farren[/name] - [name]Faye[/name] (fei) and [name]Wren[/name] (ren) = Unisex English name for “wanderer”
[name]Bowen[/name] - [name]Beau[/name] (bo) and When (wen) = Welsh name meaning “son of [name]Owen[/name]”
[name]Eugene[/name] - You (yu) and [name]Gene[/name] (jin) = Greek “born to nobility”
[name]Keelin[/name] - Ke (ke) and [name]Lynn[/name] (lin) = Irish for “little, slender”
Kaemon - [name]Kai[/name] (kai) and Mean (min) = Japanese for “joyful, right-handed”
[name]Tyson[/name] - [name]Ty[/name] (tai) and [name]Shawn[/name] (shan) = French “son of [name]Ty[/name]”
[name]Langley[/name] - Lan (lan) and [name]Lee[/name] (li) = English “long meadow”
[name]Roland[/name]/[name]Rowland[/name] - Row (rou) and Lan (lan) = [name]German[/name] “famous throughout the land” (you had this one on your list at one time!)
Paavan - Pay (pei) and [name]Fan[/name] (fan) = [name]Indian[/name] “purifier”
[name]Ewan[/name]/[name]Ewen[/name] - U-N (yuan) or You-n (yun) or You (yu) and When (wen)= Scottish form of [name]John[/name]
[name]Kiran[/name] - Ke (ke) and [name]Wren[/name] (ren) = [name]Indian[/name] for “ray of light”
[name]Rowan[/name] - Row (rou) and [name]Wren[/name] (ren) = English rowan tree

6

I love the suggestions of Leolin/[name]Leoline[/name], [name]Rowan[/name], and [name]Kiran[/name]/[name]Kieran[/name]/[name]Ciaran[/name].

I also want to say that I know a guy named [name]Hansen[/name] whose name is sort of an Anglicanized version of his Chinese name which is probably something like han-xien, if that makes sense. I think that is an awesome choice as well!

7

I like [name]Roland[/name]/[name]Rowland[/name]. I also like [name]Kai[/name] a lot.
[name]Waylon[/name]
[name]Ronan[/name]
Deacon
Conley
Conway
Conlan
Bode- two syllable
Fenway
Egan/Eagan
Cairo/Kairo
Leland
Keegan/Kegan
Howie
Yarrow
Eli
Bowie
Duncan
Landon
Byran
Fenley

8

You could also possibly do [name]Joseph[/name] nn [name]Joey[/name] (which should sound like zhou yi, right?).

[name]Ivan[/name] kind of sounds like ei fan. [name]Dylan[/name]/[name]Dillon[/name] could be de lan.

Best of luck!

9

Javad, I applaud your research and your efforts! It’s an unusual husband that will go to all that work to ensure his baby has the perfect name!

I’m going to give this a go…apologize in advance if these are unusable, I’m completely unfamiliar with Chinese.

[name]Oisin[/name] (o-[name]SHEEN[/name]; You [name]Xin[/name]) - Irish for “little deer”, a Celtic hero from the epic Tir na nOg
[name]Lucien[/name] / [name]Lucian[/name] (LOO-shun or LOO-see-ahn; [name]Lu[/name] Xun or [name]Lu[/name] Xi [name]Yan[/name]) - French / Latin meaning “light”
[name]Milan[/name] (MEE-lahn; [name]Ming[/name]? or [name]Mei[/name]? Lan) - Sanskrit meaning “unification, union, or coming together” which I love, since you’re striving for unity on this name decision. Also a city in [name]Italy[/name], means “kind, loving, and gracious” in Slavic and “eager, laborious” in Ancient [name]Roman[/name]
Kishan (ki-[name]SHAHN[/name]; Ke [name]Shan[/name]) - a modern form of [name]Krishna[/name], meaning “black, dark” in Sanskrit
[name]Matthias[/name] (muh-THY-us; Ma [name]Tai[/name]) - [name]Matteo[/name], [name]Matthias[/name], etc are all variants of [name]Matthew[/name], which means “gift of God” in Hebrew
[name]Caius[/name] nn [name]Cai[/name] ([name]KYE[/name]-us nn [name]KYE[/name]; [name]Kai[/name]) - I love [name]Kai[/name]. It’s Hawaiian for ocean, similar to your wife’s favorite, and [name]Caius[/name] would be a great way to bring in the ancient [name]Roman[/name] sound. [name]Caius[/name] means happy. There’s also [name]Malachi[/name] as a way to get to [name]Kai[/name]…you could even do Ma Li [name]Kai[/name] which is slightly different pronunciation, but still really close. [name]Malachi[/name] is one of my favorite names…it means “my messenger” or “my angel”

I can see your dilemma!! This is really difficult, I’ve been browsing for a good while now and only have a paltry seven names to suggest :frowning:

10

[name]Byron[/name] (bai ren)- not a great meaning, but it is the surname of [name]Lord[/name] [name]Byron[/name]
[name]Denali[/name]- a native american name that means great one

11

I second [name]Mischa[/name]'s suggestion of [name]Eugene[/name] (happy gold?). Or [name]Waylan[/name] (from your link, it looks like Wei means great/strength, not sure what Lan means)?

12

I’m still brainstorming but here are a couple to start…
[name]Galen[/name] (calm)
[name]Cairo[/name] (place name)

13

Javad - I love that Rayhan has a name that translates well in English and in Chinese. So awesome for a bi-cultural kid not to have to go by different names in different places. Unfortunately I do think that Rayhan and [name]Kian[/name] sound too similar for brothers, but I also understand why your wife loves [name]Kian[/name] and wants to use it. Not sure how much help I can be I really liked some of previous posters suggestions, in particular [name]Lucian[/name]. I apologize for repeats… most aren’t even super close but I figure maybe they’ll spurn inspiration.

Bojan ([name]Bo[/name]-yan)
[name]Bowen[/name] ([name]Bo[/name]-wen)
Yogi (You-ge -> too Yogi [name]Bear[/name]?)
Tomai ([name]Tu[/name]-mei)
[name]Toby[/name]? ([name]Tu[/name]-bai - it’s by no means perfect but close?)
Tyren ([name]Ty[/name]-ren -> apparently made up by some silly americans and has no meaning)
To-ren ([name]Tu[/name]-ren - it’s a bit off but both are lovely)
[name]Wendell[/name] (I don’t know where the ll’s would come from but Wen-de-??)
[name]Farren[/name] ([name]Fa[/name]-ren)
[name]Baylee[/name] (Ba-li)

I’ll be back if I think of more.

14

Thanks for the suggestions!

  • Leolin is one I’ll have to put some thought into. Pretty cool name.
  • [name]Eugene[/name] is actually my hometown (and a town I could easily see us living in the future), so I feel like it’s not really useable for us (although the Chinese meaning would be something like ‘universal peace’, which is cool)
  • [name]Roland[/name] is a name I really like, but we’ve had trouble coming up with any good Chinese names to go along with it, even though the sounds are close. It’s definitely one we’re still reflecting on though.
  • [name]Oisin[/name] is one I’ve never considered before, but it does have the potential to make a good Chinese name, and it’s a nice Irish name too. That’ll have to go on the reflection list.
  • [name]Lucian[/name] would be a very strong option, but it sounds almost the same as my sister-in-laws name.
  • [name]Caius[/name] is a name that’s been on the possibility list. If we choose a Chinese name with [name]Kai[/name] in it, then he could easily end up being called [name]Kai[/name] in Chinese and [name]Caius[/name] or NN [name]Cai[/name] in English. Could work. But I’ve been getting a little less excited about the name [name]Caius[/name] over time. Maybe though.
  • [name]Waylan[/name] would be cool if I wasn’t such a Simpsons fan, and [name]Waylan[/name] Smithers is a very strong association with this name (and not the kind of association I like, he’s a strange character)
  • [name]Bowen[/name] isn’t bad, I do like it better than [name]Owen[/name] (and my dad and grandfather and great grandfather’s names are all [name]John[/name], and [name]Owen[/name] is a variation of [name]John[/name], and [name]Bowen[/name] means ‘son of [name]Owen[/name]’, so it could work). I don’t know if I could get as excited about it, but maybe. Have to reflect a bit.

Thanks for suggestions! If you think of any more, I’m happy to hear them.

15

I really really like [name]Bowen[/name] with Rayhan. Second choice would be the [name]Kai[/name] names. Good luck… I’m amazed at how talented the Berries are that came up with so many options. [name]Bravo[/name]!

16

I’m not especially good at this sort of thing but I’ve been so enthralled by your fascinating name hunt that I couldn’t pass this opportunity up. The only two I could come up with that haven’t already been mentioned are Gwaine ([name]Gui[/name]-yan) and [name]Leander[/name] (Li-yan-de). [name]Both[/name] fairly huge stretches, but might provide a little inspiration.

17

I am so sorry about the Top Four. It’s been such a long journey, and these names ARE seriously awesome (in fact, they’re so awesome I’ve swiped a few of your first- and second-tier choices for my own list along the way!) But if your wife is not on board with any of them, then I think you’re making the right decision.

To answer the first question, Rayhan and [name]Kian[/name] are too similar for brothers according to my personal taste. I prefer the complementary look and sound of, for example, Rayhan and [name]Emrys[/name]. However, I don’t think they’re too similar to actually work. I know sisters named [name]Payton[/name] and [name]Paisley[/name], siblings named [name]Caley[/name], [name]Camryn[/name] and [name]Casen[/name], and twin boys named Coleson and [name]Carson[/name], and I don’t think there’s any trauma involved. All of those sibling sets are more matchy than Rayhan and [name]Kian[/name].

In answer to the second question, I’m going to print out the list of Chinese sounds and spend some time with my baby name books to see whether I can come up with any awesome suggestions not already suggested. A couple I really liked were [name]Oisin[/name] and [name]Ewan[/name]/[name]Euan[/name].

Best wishes!

18

Okay, here’s my list so far (I’m not certain all the meanings are correct. The book I was consulting is kinda unreliable that way):

Bingley (bing li)–English surname, apparently a place name from the [name]West[/name] Riding of Yorkshire meaning “dweller at the hill or grove”. It would be a hit with [name]Jane[/name] [name]Austen[/name] fans.
[name]Damian[/name] (de mei yan)–Greek, “tamer/to tame”
[name]Dieter[/name] (de tai/tu)–a stretch, but it’s [name]German[/name]: “people-army”
[name]Donato[/name] (dao na tu)–Italian, from Latin, “gift”
[name]Eli[/name] (yi lai)–have you considered [name]Eli[/name]? Seems to me this could be a good cross-cultural choice. Hebrew, “God is exalted.”
[name]Elihu[/name] (yi lai yu)–much less common than [name]Eli[/name], and the sound is still close in Chinese. Hebrew, “the [name]Lord[/name] is my God.”
Eilwyn/[name]Elwyn[/name]/[name]Elwin[/name] (ai wen)–quite a stretch. Eilwyn is Welsh, perhaps meaning “white brow;” [name]Elwyn[/name]/[name]Elwin[/name] is English and has a variety of possible meanings, including “elf-friend” and “old friend.”
[name]Finlay[/name]/[name]Finley[/name] (fen li/lai)–Gaelic, “fair hero”
Haidar (hai dao)–Arabic, “lion”
[name]Ian[/name] (yi yan)–I don’t know that [name]Ian[/name] is an improvement on [name]Kian[/name]. It’s an Irish/Scottish [name]John[/name] variant.
[name]Julian[/name] (yu li yan)–it seems this one might work pretty well. Latin, “downy-bearded,” “young”
[name]Mahlon[/name] (mei lan)–certainly more matchy with Rayhan than [name]Kian[/name]! And it hasn’t such a great meaning: Hebrew, “mild” or “sickly.”
[name]Tobiah[/name] (tu bai yu)–a bit of a stretch. Hebrew, “God is good.”

At least you can tell I’ve been thinking! Best wishes.