WenKind 温文

Naming a baby abroad: decide how the name is spelled

A Chinese name written in Latin letters is not spelled the same way everywhere. The spelling is fixed at birth registration and then follows the child through school, documents and border control; changing it afterwards is rarely easy. The points below come from the authorities themselves, and they are worth knowing while you are still choosing.

  1. 1Hong Kong: spelled from Cantonese, registered within 42 days

    The Immigration Department requires that parents register a birth within 42 days of the day of birth. Identity documents carry a spelling based on the Cantonese reading, which is why one surname is spelled differently in Hong Kong and on the mainland.

    陈 becomes Chan, 黄 becomes Wong, 张 becomes Cheung; in Hanyu Pinyin they are Chen, Huang and Zhang

  2. 2Taiwan: four systems, and none of them is compulsory

    The Bureau of Consular Affairs offers Wade-Giles, MPS II, Tongyong Pinyin and Hanyu Pinyin, and states that an applicant is not required to use only the spelling its own tool produces. The rule now reads “national languages”, so a reading in Hokkien, Hakka or an indigenous language may also be used.

    谢 may be Hsieh in Wade-Giles or Xie in Hanyu Pinyin; both are accepted

  3. 3Singapore: the Chinese name is optional, and only then is there pinyin

    The Immigration and Checkpoints Authority states that the inclusion of an ethnic name is optional. If it is included, the child's Hanyu Pinyin name appears in brackets and will also be reflected in the child's passport. The dialect spelling used day to day, such as Tan, Goh, Ng or Lim, is a separate thing.

    陈 is written Tan day to day; if the Chinese name is registered, (Chen) appears in brackets

  4. 4For a Chinese passport or travel document: the strictest rules

    This section applies only to families still holding Chinese documents. Consular notices require the pinyin to correspond to the characters, with the surname as one segment and the given name as the second, no space and no hyphen; the characters must be the national standard forms and may not be traditional; a compound surname invented from both parents' surnames is not allowed, though established ones such as Ouyang and Sima are; and a foreign name cannot replace the pinyin.

    王小明 becomes Wang Xiaoming, not Wang Xiao Ming, Wang Xiao-Ming, or Wang Xiaoming Antonio

What this means when you choose a name

  • Choose the characters first. The spelling follows from them; you should not change the characters to make the spelling look better.
  • One surname being spelled differently by region is normal, but know in advance what each one is, rather than finding out on the day you apply.
  • If your family writes in traditional characters, settle which simplified form the documents will carry.
  • Check the birth registration details before you apply. Correcting a registration afterwards is troublesome everywhere.

Characters written differently in the two scripts

This matters most for families applying for Chinese documents, where only the standard simplified form is accepted.

語 → 语濤 → 涛

The same surname is spelled differently by region

These are real rows from our data. The first column is Hanyu Pinyin; the others are the spellings commonly used in Hong Kong, Taiwan and Singapore-Malaysia.

CharacterHanyu PinyinHong KongTaiwanSingapore-Malaysia
李 Li Lee Li Lee
黄 Huang Wong Huang Ng
张 Zhang Cheung Chang Teo
陈 Chen Chan Chen Tan
吴 Wu Ng Wu Goh
林 Lin Lam Lin Lim
郑 Zheng Cheng Cheng Tay
谢 Xie Tse Hsieh Chia

Take these rules into account while choosing

Every suggested name is shown in the romanization system you choose, with Hanyu Pinyin alongside when it differs, plus its standard Simplified Chinese form. The first three names are free. Spellings are for reference only; for official documents follow the issuing authority's requirements.

See 3 names free →

Quoted from the authorities' own published guidance, for reference while choosing a name. Requirements and procedures change and vary by office; follow the latest notice from the authority that serves you. This page is not legal or immigration advice.

Sources