Browse meaningful Chinese characters for names — pronunciations, core meanings, radicals, stroke counts, and structure.
Funeral gift — refers to the horses, carriages, and other items given; part of funeral rites.
A rare, archaic Chinese character with uncertain meaning, possibly related to commerce; primarily found in historical texts and dictionaries.
To carry; to bring; to present
Surplus — what remains; excess; leftover
A rare character referring to a type of ancient currency or treasure; also used in historical names.
To earn, make a profit; to gain, obtain; to make money through business or work.
Fu — to contribute money or goods to help with funeral expenses; a funeral gift or donation.
To purchase; to buy; to acquire by payment.
Competition, match, contest; to compete; to surpass
Profound, abstruse, deep and mysterious; refers to something that is difficult to understand or fathom, often used
An ancient Chinese unit of weight and currency; a small coin or monetary unit used in historical China.
Yì — an ancient, rare character meaning 'to be fond of; to like; to be pleased with'.
To defeat; to be defeated; to lose
Gamble — to wager or bet money on an uncertain outcome; to engage in games of chance.
to earn, to make a profit; to gain financially; used in Cantonese for earning money.
Gift presented when meeting a superior — a formal ceremonial offering, typically
Superfluous, redundant, excessive; to burden; to find fault with
A type of seashell used as currency in ancient China; also refers to cowrie shells in general.
Yun — elegant, refined; excellent; handsome
To give as a gift; to present; to bestow
To place a deposit or earnest money; to pay a down payment; also refers to the blank leaf at the beginning or end of
To praise, commend, support, approve; to assist, help; in historical contexts, a type of ceremonial text.
Counterfeit, fake, spurious — refers to something that is not genuine, especially
To rent, to lease (dialectal usage, particularly in Taiwanese Hokkien)
To provide for; to support financially; ample
To give a gift; to present; to bestow (archaic usage).
To win; to gain; to profit
Farewell gift — money or presents given to someone who is departing
Gan — refers to the Gan River in Jiangxi province, China; also used as an abbreviation for Jiangxi province.
Virtuous and talented — an archaic variant of 賢 (xián), meaning virtuous,; used to describe someone with both moral integrity and ability.
Stolen goods; loot; bribes
A legendary giant turtle in Chinese mythology; also refers to something strong, heavy, or enduring. Often used in the
Stillborn — refers to a fetus or animal that dies before or; dead-born.
To redeem; to ransom; to atone for
Counterfeit, fake, spurious — refers to something that is not genuine, often
An ancient variant form of 赏 (shǎng), meaning to reward, bestow, or
A mythical beast; a ferocious animal; a fierce creature
A rare, archaic Chinese character of uncertain meaning, possibly related to a
Gan — refers to Jiangxi Province; the Gan River; the Gan Chinese dialect
Dirty, filthy; corrupt, illicit; stolen goods, loot
Shell, cowrie; currency, money; valuable
virtuous; chaste; pure
to carry; to bear; to shoulder
A variant form of 員 (yuán), meaning member, personnel, or staff; also used as a surname.
tribute; offering; to present as tribute
wealth; money; property
Responsibility, duty; to demand, to require; to blame, to reproach.
virtuous, worthy, talented, good; a term of respect for someone of a younger generation or lower
to defeat; to be defeated; to fail
account; bill; debt
goods, commodities, merchandise; money; currency
quality; nature; character
to deal in, to trade; a peddler, a vendor; a trafficker
to covet; greedy; corrupt
poor; impoverished; deficient
to reduce; to devalue; to demote
to purchase; to buy; to acquire
to store; to accumulate; to hoard
to pass through; to pierce; to be linked together
Two (financial form); secondary; to betray
Practical guidance for evaluating characters by radical, stroke balance, and cultural resonance.
Radicals group characters by their core semantic or structural elements. When you filter by radical, you surface characters that share meaning cues and writing patterns, making it easier to shortlist options with aligned symbolism.
Most parents stay within 6–16 strokes so signatures remain elegant and readable. Avoid extremes—overly complex forms slow writing, while ultra-simple characters may feel plain next to a more expressive partner character.
Chinese characters themselves are largely gender-neutral. Perceived gender comes from imagery and cultural associations, so review meanings and radicals together to find characters that match the tone you want.