Browse meaningful Chinese characters for names — pronunciations, core meanings, radicals, stroke counts, and structure.
Eaves; a small pavilion or tower, often used in ancient architecture.
Tunnel — an underground or underwater passage; a passageway through a mountain or under a barrier.
To follow; to comply with; to accompany
Ao — refers to a deep, secluded corner; a bay or cove; an ancient place name
Dangerous, perilous, hazardous; risk; a strategic pass
An obscure character used in ancient place names, particularly referring to a
Ancient form of 堧/壖 — refers to riverbanks, low-lying land near water,
To ascend, to rise up; to reach a high position; rainbow
Islet, small island; used in place names.
Low-lying wet ground; marsh; damp lowland
Hidden, concealed, secret; to hide, to conceal; latent
To evaluate; to judge; to assess merit
To destroy; to ruin; to demolish
Long — refers to Longshan (a mountain range in Gansu and Shaanxi; Gansu province (abbreviation); also used in place names like Longxi and Longdong.
Dangerous, precarious; refers to a dangerous or perilous situation, often describing steep cliffs or
To be subordinate to; a type of script in ancient China (clerical script); a servant or subordinate
To be subordinate to; a clerk; a servant
To belong to; to be subordinate to; a clerk
A short-tailed bird; a radical and component in many Chinese characters, often related to birds
A crane; to soar high; lofty
Falcon — a bird of prey known for its speed, sharp vision,; often used metaphorically to represent keen insight, swift action, or precision.
Outstanding, talented, elegant; meaningful, profound; also refers to plump, tasty game birds.
Difficult, hard; hardship, adversity; to make things difficult
Yi — an ancient term for a type of bird, possibly a; also an archaic variant of 弋 meaning to shoot with a stringed
Sparrow; small bird; sometimes used to describe something small or insignificant
Wild goose — a migratory bird known for flying in V-shaped formations; symbolizes letters, messages, and seasonal changes in Chinese culture.
A type of bird; possibly referring to a crane or similar large bird species in ancient
A type of wild goose; an ancient term for a kind of bird; also used in ancient personal names.
Male; masculine; powerful
Elegant, refined, graceful; also refers to things that are proper, correct, or of high standard.
To gather, collect, assemble; a market, fair; a collection, anthology
To hire, employ, rent; historically refers to migratory birds; also used in the context of employment and leasing.
A type of owl; archaic character rarely used in modern Chinese, primarily found in classical texts.
pheasant; also refers to a unit of length in ancient China (equivalent to
The cry of a pheasant; specifically refers to the call of a male pheasant.
Superior, outstanding, talented; elegant, refined; meaningful, profound
Female — refers to the female sex of animals or plants; feminine; opposite of male.
harmony; peaceful; concord
Osprey — refers to a type of fish-eating bird of prey; primarily used in classical Chinese contexts, most famously in the name of
Chick; nestling; fledgling
An ancient Chinese character referring to a type of bird, possibly a; now obsolete and extremely rare in modern usage.
Miscellaneous, mixed, varied; not pure; to mix, to blend
Luò — ancient name for a river in Shaanxi (now Wei River); refers to a type of white horse with black mane; used in ancient place names and personal names.
A character used in ancient Chinese texts, primarily found in the name
A pair of birds; a flock of birds; to match, to correspond
To carve; to engrave; an eagle
Although, even though, even if — a conjunction used to express concession
A white pheasant; a type of crane; also an ancient term for a writing brush.
Red ochre; red mineral pigment used in ancient times for painting and coloring; cinnabar.
Double, pair, dual; twice; even (number)
A legendary bird in Chinese mythology; also refers to a type of heron or stork; used as a phonetic component in many characters.
Chick — a young bird, especially a newly hatched chicken; by extension, a young person or inexperienced individual; also used metaphorically for something in its early stages.
Mixed, miscellaneous, varied; to mix, blend; sundry, heterogeneous
Harmonious — describes a state of peace, harmony, and accord; also refers to the harmonious sound of birdsong; used in classical texts.
Chicken — a domesticated fowl; also used metaphorically for cowardice or in various idioms.
Xi — an ancient name for a cuckoo bird; also used in place names, particularly referring to Yuexi County in Sichuan
Enemy, adversary; to feud, to be hostile; to match, to correspond
Feathers of a long-tailed bird; refers to the plumage or feathers of birds.
To leave; to depart; to separate
Difficult, hard; hardship, adversity; to make difficult
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.