> The prototypical Chinese name has three characters, a single surname followed by a two-character given name. A smaller number of Chinese people only have a single given name, and a very few have two surname characters.
I'm not sure if this is correct. IIRC, in at least some areas/families, it's a tradition to alternate between giving a one or two character name from generation to generation. So if your parent has a two character given name, you'll have a one character name, and vice-versa.
Another interesting characteristic of Chinese names is that given names are very diverse and varied, while family names come from a small set (something like a hundred or so). This is opposite from the West (or at least America) where given names are pretty restricted (e.g. lots of Johns and Emilys) but family names have a lot of variation (probably due to all the immigration).
>>> The prototypical Chinese name has three characters, a single surname followed by a two-character given name. A smaller number of Chinese people only have a single given name, and a very few have two surname characters.
>I'm not sure if this is correct.
It's not. The distribution of one- and two-character given names is pretty even in China.
>Another interesting characteristic of Chinese names is that given names are very diverse and varied, while family names come from a small set (something like a hundred or so). This is opposite from the West (or at least America) where given names are pretty restricted (e.g. lots of Johns and Emilys) but family names have a lot of variation (probably due to all the immigration).
You know, maybe we should change how we think about the ordering. Instead of family-given or given-family, it's clearly restricted-arbitrary.
it is missing one option. in some areas the middle character is a generation name. that is, that character is the same for all members of that generation.
so the thee characters would be: family-generation-given name
I'm not sure if this is correct. IIRC, in at least some areas/families, it's a tradition to alternate between giving a one or two character name from generation to generation. So if your parent has a two character given name, you'll have a one character name, and vice-versa.
Another interesting characteristic of Chinese names is that given names are very diverse and varied, while family names come from a small set (something like a hundred or so). This is opposite from the West (or at least America) where given names are pretty restricted (e.g. lots of Johns and Emilys) but family names have a lot of variation (probably due to all the immigration).