Clock is ticking and we’re still trying to fall in love with a name for our little girl due next month. My wife is Chinese and I’m American but would like to continue the tradition of celebrating our Irish heritage while respecting her Chinese half with a Chinese middle name.
Disappointingly, her family doesn’t seem interested in helping with the naming process so the Chinese part is difficult for us. If you do have any Mandarin our Cantonese or even Khmer (ideal), please provide the phonetics so I can sell it to my wife without sounding like a total boob.
Names we like so far:
-[name]Fiona[/name]
-[name]Delilah[/name]
-[name]Riona[/name]
-[name]Remmy[/name]
Sadly, I believe only [name]Riona[/name] is Irish but even then it’s borrowed from [name]Scotland[/name]. I think at this point, I- I mean we- (ahem, cough) would be happy with any strong Gaelic first name that won’t get lost in the sea of girls names being plucked from [name]Ireland[/name] this year.
I understand the middle name request is a tall order but you’re a smart lot so I thought I would put it out there. Thanks in advance.
Ratrider
[name]Son[/name] named Braddoc
Girl in the Oven
Hands down [name]Fiona[/name] is the best name from your list. It’s a simply lovely name, I adore it.
What about [name]Bao[/name], [name]Lian[/name], or [name]Xia[/name] as a Chinese name?
[name]Delilah[/name] [name]Mei[/name] would be perfect!!! [name]Mei[/name] means beautiful in Chinese (pronounced [name]May[/name]) I am sure you know that though ;).
Could I suggest [name]Eilidh[/name] or it’s phonetic Aylee/Ailie for the first name? I think it’s so simple and pretty. I think It could work well with a Chinese middle name too as (in my experience, please forgive me if I’m wrong) Chinese names are often heavy with vowel-sounds and soft sounding consonants therefore the two names would not contrast heavily? I also [name]Love[/name] [name]Una[/name] and [name]Ciara[/name]/[name]Ciera[/name] for similar reasons :). Sorry I can’t help much with the Chinese side, I really am clueless there! Good luck x
I adore [name]Fiona[/name] it is on my list as well and would be a lovely choice! I love the suggestion of [name]Mei[/name] as a middle name. It has Chinese heritage but is still easy to pronounce and not completely out of place in an American setting.
I like the suggestions of [name]Mei[/name] and [name]Xia[/name]! I’ve read that the word [name]Xia[/name] is used in Chinese to denote the pinkish glow of the sky at sunset. I guess your wife would know for sure if that is true, but if so, I think it’s a lovely meaning!
[name]One[/name] of my favorite names, which I’ve read somewhere is of chinese origin, is Amanke. Amanke would sound nice with Irish names such as [name]Aideen[/name], [name]Eibhlin[/name] ([name]Eileen[/name]), or Aenit.
My daughter’s Chinese middle name is Funan. Fu means happiness or good luck. [name]Nan[/name] means south and refers to the door of the orphanage where she was left as a baby. We often call her Fu or Fuey as a nickname, and I think it is the cutest and most fun nickname in the world. For that reason, I highly recommend any middle name that is a combo of Fu and another character. Some possibilities include Fumei, Xiaofu, Fuliang, Mingfu, Yangfu, Xingfu, Xiangfu, Fuli, Qingfu, Tianfu, Fuxia, Xiafu, etc. Before you use any of these suggestions, though, check with someone completely fluent in the language to make sure none of these names has a negative double meaning of which I am unaware. Best of luck!
I like this name combo too but when it falls off my family’s tongue you have to pretend [name]Jeff[/name] Foxworthy is saying it because regardless of how it’s spelled, that’s how it will roll off their Keystone [name]Light[/name]-lathered lips.
[name]Fiona[/name] [name]Mei[/name] is in our top 3. Nice call. [name]Bao[/name] is our favorite meat-filled bread Chinese street food so can’t have our baby girl’s name making us hungry all the time.
A couple people suggested [name]Xia[/name] so I think I will run it by the in-laws. Thanks for the phonetic too. I’m overwhelmed by the response already and truly grateful. Please keep them coming.
Ratrider
[name]Son[/name] named Braddoc
Girl in the Oven
I’m half Chinese and am surprised by all the one syllable Chinese middles. Typical Chinese names consist of two characters. Maybe you should ask your wife for help if she knows Chinese? Each Chinese name is unique because parents spend hours picking out the right characters for their child.
My mom’s Chinese name is Juo Lan which means like an Orchid. (depending on what phonetic system you are using, it can also be spelled Ruo Lan)
I was considering Chinese names myself, but am choosing not to since my children would only be 1/4 Chinese. It’s funny since my fiance’ is Irish, but we both don’t really care for our cultures…
Anyway here was a list I made of possible names, but you might want to double check them with your wife since I’m not fluent in Chinese myself and since we decided not to go this route, I didn’t have my mom look them over:
Also note that characters and the tone is very important since it could mean something else if you use the wrong tone or character, which is why I included them.
Also they are mixed between simplified and traditional characters…
As for Irish girl names:
Brianna
Bridgit
Aileen/Eileen
Cathleen
Chevonne
Fiana
Maureen
Nevina
Myrna
Rosaleen
If you need pn help on the Chinese names let me know! And Mei is defiantly pn May, I have never heard it as My and I have taken Chinese for 3 years, heard my mom speak, had Chinese friends, and I have been to Taiwan twice. Unless it is specific to a certain region that I have not had a friend from (The friends I know are from the Beijing/Shanghai areas)
Sothy is a lovely Khmer name, pronounced SO-tee. Very similar sounding to [name]Sophie[/name] and totally usable! I’ve also hear [name]Mei[/name] pronounced like ‘my.’
I should clarify that my wife is Chinese ethnically but born in Cambodia and moved to the States very young. Her Khmer is conversational mostly and she isn’t much help name-wise. She can’t read or write Mandarin or Cantonese at all so we are forced to seek external sources for help.
Ratrider
[name]Son[/name] named Braddoc
Girl in the Oven
This is my wife’s family name apparently! Everyone in her family has a name ending in ‘huá’ including hers. Be nice to incorporate that. Please let me know if you have other suggestions using ‘huá’.
I like [name]Fiona[/name] too and think [name]Fiona[/name] [name]Mei[/name] or [name]Fiona[/name] Hua or [name]Fiona[/name] Lihua all sound great! I have a friend who goes by Hua for her first name so I think you could use it alone. But I like the combinations of Linhua, Meihua, and Lihua too.
