How to Write Chinese Names in English

Basic Rules for Chinese Surnames

• Single-character surnames: Use Pinyin directly (e.g., Li for 李)
• Double-character surnames: Separate with space (e.g., Zhang-Wang for 张王)
• Common surnames (top 100): Li, Wang, Zhang, Liu, Chen

Processing Given Names

Single-character names

Use Pinyin without tone marks (e.g., Na for 南 or 华)

Double-character names

• Retain original spacing (e.g., Min-Hua for 敏慧)
• Use hyphen for ambiguous names: Li-Na

Three-character names

Special Cases

• Historical names: Add " ancient" (e.g., Confucius for 孔子)
• Rebus names: Use phonetic translation (e.g., Li-Fu for 李福)
• Batch names: Add "Group" (e.g., Wang Group for 王氏宗族)

Common Issues

1. Tone marks: Never include tones in formal writing
2. Radical-based translation: Avoid using Chinese characters
3. Spelling variations: Standardize with Pinyin 2015 rules