# Zhuxi



## thebluemood

I’ve been studying Chinese for two years now and I would like to have a Chinese name. I was thinking of:  珠熙 （zhūxī）
Would it be a good name? Does it sounds good?


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## SuperXW

Hi, have you decided your surname in Chinese? I don't think 珠 is a surname.
By the way, there was an ancient scholar whose name was 朱熹, which sound the same to 珠熙.


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## thebluemood

SuperXW said:


> Hi, have you decided your surname in Chinese? I don't think 珠 is a surname.
> By the way, there was an ancient scholar whose name was 朱熹, which sound the same to 珠熙.


Oh, I see. Yes, sorry, that surname I have tough of is 李, so it would be: 李珠熙


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## Skatinginbc

珠熙:
(1) 珍珠耀明貌 (literally "the shinning brightness of pearls")
(2) 女的 (girl's name)
(3) 韓文名字 (Korean name: 주희)
(4) 聽起來像 "朱熹" (homophone of 朱熹 "the red hot sun", which is the name of a famous Neo-Confucian scholar in the Song Dynasty).


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## thebluemood

Skatinginbc said:


> 珠熙:
> (1) 珍珠耀明貌 (literally "the shinning brightness of pearls")
> (2) 女的 (girl's name)
> (3) 韓文名字 (Korean name: 주희)
> (4) 聽起來像 "朱熹" (homophone of 朱熹 "the red hot sun", which is the name of a famous Neo-Confucian scholar in the Song Dynasty.


Oh, thank you! So that means that 珠熙 would be a nice name for me, right? I'm a girl


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## Skatinginbc

thebluemood said:


> I would like to have a Chinese name.


But I would think it is either a Korean name or influenced by Korean.


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## thebluemood

Skatinginbc said:


> But I would think it is either a Korean name or influenced by Korean.


Ok, I see, 谢谢


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## philchinamusical

Is there any specific reason you have "珠" in your name? Another potential problem with "Zhu1 Xi1" is that it's very close to "Zhu3 Xi2", as "主席" in writing. Though it's not regarded as "criminal", I am afraid some people may make a joke about it.
If that's not a concern to you at all, and you do want to keep the pronunciations, then I'd suggest you change "熙" to one among "茜", "曦", "汐", or "晰", which are also suitable as girl's name in China. "熙" is really Korean style.


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## Oswinw011

I like this name very much. As to the homophone problem, I don't think it merits much attention as you also offer us the surname Li, that's, Li Zhuxi; People would call you by the whole name, or if they are your friends, they could address you "xiao xi". Either way sounds okay to me.


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## thebluemood

philchinamusical said:


> Is there any specific reason you have "珠" in your name? Another potential problem with "Zhu1 Xi1" is that it's very close to "Zhu3 Xi2", as "主席" in writing. Though it's not regarded as "criminal", I am afraid some people may make a joke about it.
> If that's not a concern to you at all, and you do want to keep the pronunciations, then I'd suggest you change "熙" to one among "茜", "曦", "汐", or "晰", which are also suitable as girl's name in China. "熙" is really Korean style.


Yes, well, I really like the way 珠 is written. But, yes, I could change it. The only thing that concerns me now is that 珠熙 may be sound very Korean. I would like to make it sound Chinese, not korean, I don't know if I’ve explained myself well...


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## philchinamusical

thebluemood said:


> Yes, well, I really like the way 珠 is written. But, yes, I could change it. The only thing that concerns me now is that 珠熙 may be sound very Korean. I would like to make it sound Chinese, not korean, I don't know if I’ve explained myself well...


Sure you did. If that is the case, then maybe you can consider my recommendations. Those were typical Chinese girl's names.


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## thebluemood

philchinamusical said:


> Sure you did. If that is the case, then maybe you can consider my recommendations. Those were typical Chinese girl's names.


Oh, ok, thank you so much!!


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## aquariuser

I think the best place of 珠 is the 3rd in the name which mean the name is "李*珠“，it could help your name does not sound like Korean.By the way ,one of my neighborhood called 明珠，that does not sound strange,but 珠熙 just sound like Korean.


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## T.D

Well...I don't think it's a problem if a name 'sounds' Korean or something. 
Both 珠 and 熙 have very good meanings. 珠 is a pearl and 熙 means brightness, prosperousness, good fortune, etc. 

Personally, I agree with @aquariuser, 熙珠 does sound better than 珠熙. 
Maybe it's because 熙 is an adjective and 珠 is a noun.  And the 'adj+n' structure is more common than 'n+adj".  

For me, 熙珠 will easily lead to the image of a shinning pearl or a peaceful, harmonious atmosphere brought by pearls, which I believe are good impressions for a girl. 

Naming yourself is a highly personal thing. You have our respect and understanding (and blessing) no matter what your decision is. 

I named myself Templar when I was 12, for my interest in knighthood and chivalric culture, and no one ever questioned or made fun of it during my 5 years stayed overseas.


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## philchinamusical

T.D said:


> Naming yourself is a highly personal thing. You have our respect and understanding (and blessing) no matter what your decision is.
> 
> I named myself Templar when I was 12, for my interest in knighthood and chivalric culture, and no one ever questioned or made fun of it during my 5 years stayed overseas.



Totally agree on the "personal thing" point. One shall always respect the other's right to choose her/his own name, no matter what the name makes one think of.

However, this is not the case in China, yet. There is a question/answer thread in Zhihu.com (我把 Messiah 翻译成「梅西雅」，原译是弥赛亚——救世主的名字，我拿来当英文名土吗？ - 知乎). The initiator wanted to name herself as "Messiah" in English, and you all can see how many answers are mocking her up that finally she said she wouldn't use the name at all. And it's just Chinese criticising a Chinese girl picking her own English name.


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## T.D

philchinamusical said:


> However, this is not the case in China, yet. There is a question/answer thread in Zhihu.com (我把 Messiah 翻译成「梅西雅」，原译是弥赛亚——救世主的名字，我拿来当英文名土吗？ - 知乎). The initiator wanted to name herself as "Messiah" in English, and you all can see how many answers are mocking her up that finally she said she wouldn't use the name at all. And it's just Chinese criticising a Chinese girl picking her own English name.



It's kinda against human nature not to laugh at something sounds funny or weird after all...it's a matter of manner tho. 
My Chinese name sounds weird too, and I got laughed at all the time. And I myself used to make fun of my classmates whose name was 羊伟 and 樊建, but it stopped when I realized names are symbols of good wishes from one's parents, which deserve my respect anyhow.


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## SuperXW

philchinamusical said:


> Is there any specific reason you have "珠" in your name? Another potential problem with "Zhu1 Xi1" is that it's very close to "Zhu3 Xi2", as "主席" in writing. Though it's not regarded as "criminal", I am afraid some people may make a joke about it.
> If that's not a concern to you at all, and you do want to keep the pronunciations, then I'd suggest you change "熙" to one among "茜", "曦", "汐", or "晰", which are also suitable as girl's name in China. "熙" is really Korean style.





T.D said:


> Personally, I agree with @aquariuser, 熙珠 does sound better than 珠熙.


It does look like a Korean name, but I don't agree with the other options.
Zhu1 Xi1 doesn't sound very close to zhu3 xi2, as long as you are speaking standard Mandarin.
If that is close, 熙珠 could be worse. I can think of 吸住 吸猪 西猪 锡珠 or something.
"茜" has double pronunciations, "曦" is too complicate, "汐" is kind of rare in a name... You can always find reasons not to pick some character.


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## philchinamusical

SuperXW said:


> Zhu1 Xi1 doesn't sound very close to zhu3 xi2, *as long as you are speaking standard Mandarin*.


That's the concern. 

Standard Mandarin is widely taught but still not widely learned in China. The majority of the Chinese population still speak with accents or in dialects. Besides, some "western accents" will make that happen too. But as I said, if that's not the concern of the thread owner, just keep it.


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## thebluemood

Thank you all for your comments and help! I really like the sound of 珠熙 or 珠晰，but I understand all you’ve said. I truly appreciate your help, in fact, I don't know anything at all of the Chinese culture, so thank you!


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## SuperXW

philchinamusical said:


> That's the concern.
> 
> Standard Mandarin is widely taught but still not widely learned in China. The majority of the Chinese population still speak with accents or in dialects. Besides, some "western accents" will make that happen too.


I don't think we need to concern dialects or accents too much, otherwise you'll find most names are problematic.

zhu1xi1 and zhu3xi2 are obviously different in tones, and both zhu1 and xi1 are common for a name. So that shouldn't be the concern. Will you make a joke on 朱熹 by calling him zhu3xi2? Not to mention that zhu3xi2 is not a bad title.

Even 樊建 is acceptable, because it is not 范建.

Only in the following conditions, one should be careful about homophones:
1. Name characters are rare.
2. Pronunciations are exactly the same with some common word.
3. The word is derogatory.


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## philchinamusical

SuperXW said:


> I don't think we need to concern dialects or accents too much, otherwise you'll find most names are problematic.



Based on 40+ years living experiences, I really think we do. Making jokes with people's name (not only Chinese names) are quite common here in daily life, especially after the Great Cultural Revolution.

However, as my points are made, let's agree to disagree.


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## SuperXW

philchinamusical said:


> Based on 40+ years living experiences, I really think we do. Making jokes with people's name (not only Chinese names) are quite common here in daily life, especially after the Great Cultural Revolution.


How do you avoid 馬英狗, 狼振英, 貓主席 etc.? Do you think their real name had any problem? We can keep making much worse puns if we like. 
I really don't think normal people would feel 朱熹 funny, unless some enemies or boring little pupil want to make a wordplay deliberately. You can never avoid that.


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