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Chinese names

Parts

Some names have three parts :

• Clan name
• Group name
• Personal name

Most Chinese use the Clan name as the 1st part. In the Western world, it is known as Surname or Last name.

Based on where they came from and where they are residing, they may write their name as

Traditional usage

• Clan name, Group name, Personal name
• Clan name, Personal name, Group name

Conforming to the Western World

• Personal name, Group name, Clan name
• Group name, Personal name, Clan name

Siblings

Their names usually have the 1st part (Fixed), 2nd part (Fixed) and 3rd part (Varying).

According to Stan Liou (M67), some siblings (mostly from the Northern part of China) prefer the convention 1st part (Fixed), 2nd part (Varying) and 3rd part (Fixed).

Miscellaneous

A Chinese character may also have one or more rendering in English. For example, Khoo or Chiu.

Some Chinese use the 12-generation naming convention.

Korean names

Lee , Kim and Park are some popular Korean names.

Some Koreans use the 7-generation naming convention.

Indian names

Indian names may be based on their religion.

• Hindus are often named after their deities and their likeness.
  e.g. Rama, Krishna, Ramamurthy, Krishnamurthy
• An Indian name may have “Deep”, “Deepak” or “Dipa” meaning light or wisdom.
• Male Sikhs have “Singh” as their middle name. 
  e.g. Davinder Singh Saluja
  Female Sikhs have “Kaur” as their middle name.
• Muslims are named after their prophet and as “servers” of Allah.
  e.g. Muhammad, Rahmin
• Christians may have Biblical names.
• Some are named Gautama (or its variants)

Indian names may vary with region.
In some parts, the name may include place of birth and trade.
The father’s name may be carried on as the middle name of the son.

Mexican names

• Many males are named Jesus.
• Many females are named Maria.
• Mexican names may have four parts : two for personal name, one for father’s name, and the last for mother’s name.
• Mexicans may use a hyphenated last name (with a hyphen between the parent’s names).

Greek names

Some Greeks name their first grandson after the paternal grand father and their second grandson after the maternal grand father.

Native American names

Some Native American tribes use an elaborate naming convention. The names of two Native Americans of the same tribe can portray their relationship (e.g. one is the second maternal uncle).

Early names

• Some names have one word e.g. Mya, Nu, Thant, Tin
• Some have two or three words.
• It was not common to have long names.
  An exception is a cartoon character named “Khin Maung Thein Tun Win”

Same name

We need additional information to disambiguate the names.

Aung Myint

• U Aung Myint (M67, GBNF)
  Helped U Win Thein (M67) with Set Hmu Thadinzin.
  Worked for UNICEF.
• U Aung Myint (M69)
  Taught at RIT and Singapore Poly.
  Hobbies : Painting, Motivational messages

• U Aung Myint (Pet69, GBNF)
  Taught at RIT
  Known for his cartoons (notably Kyant Ba Hone)
  Patron of “RIT Cartoon Box”

• U Aung Myint (Min70)
  Actor, guitarist and vocalist.
  Known as “Thamankyar Ko Myint”.

• U Aung Myint
  “Yogi Thway Say”
  Operates a recording studio (initially for his spouse : Phyu Thi).
• Dr. Aung Myint (Chemistry)
• U Aung Myint (Donald, Dhamma friend)

Han Sein

• U Han Sein (C69)
  Multiple sports athlete : Swimming, Water Polo, Basketball
  “TONE KYAW”.
  69er HCF members inadvertently put him in the GBNF list unaware that the Adhamma authorities “sneaked him away” for many years.
• U Han Sein (M72)
  Taught at RIT
  Joined the Navy.
  Retired as a Deputy Minister.
• U Han Sein (Dawei)
  Father : U Maung Lwin

Soe Win

• U Soe Win (M66)
  Close friend of Saya Lin (M66).
• U Soe Win (EP69, GBNF)
  Captain of RIT Basketball team.
• U Soe Win (EC70)
  Worked for UCC and PTC.
• Dr. Soe Win (SPHS58) stood First in Burma.
  Retired as Rector of YUFL
• U Soe Win (Met and Hydro)
• U Soe Win (NHK)

Misspelled names

• Some names are misspelled
• The most notable is Saya U Tin Swe.
  Many called him wrongly as U Tint Swe or U Tin Shwe.

Mispronounced names

• Some Myanmar names cannot be easily pronounced by foreigners.
• Thane is easier to pronounce than Thein
• Kai is easier to pronounce than Khaing or Khine.
• My name has been mispronounced as La and Hala

Saya U Sein Hlaing

• He matriculated in 1946.
• He joined the EE (Electrical Engineering) Department as Assistant Lecturer in 1952.
• He was sent to the USA on a States Scholarship to study at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
• Upon his return to Burma, Saya was promoted to Lecturer.
• He was one of the three Professors (out of the eight Departments) when we joined 2nd BE RIT in 1964.
• He passed away a couple of years after retirement.

U Sein Hlaing (Football)

He was the Coach of the Burma Football team.

U Sein Hlaing (Bago)

He is one of the organizers for San Francisco Bay Area Entertainment events.

U Sein Hlaing (GBNF)

He is the younger brother of U Han Tun, who was my classmate at PPBRS and SPHS.

U Sein Hlaing (CSO)

He attended classes at UCC.

I have written and given speeches about names (e.g meaning, naming conventions).

I know thousands of names. Many people share names.

There is no formal way to spell Burmese names in English.

Examples

• Toon, Tun, Htoon, Htun
• Kyaw, Gyaw
• Win, Winn, Wynn

Non-Burmese find it difficult to pronounce most Burmese names.

Some Burmese have modified the spelling of their names.

Examples

• Kai (for Khaing, Khine)
• Kin (for Khin)

Some words (U, Maung, Ko) are mostly used as prefixes of names, but they also appear in the names.

Examples

• Khin Maung U

• Aye Maung, Aye Maung Han, Ba Maung, Chit Maung, Maung Maung Thaung, Nyunt Maung, Sein Maung, Sein Myint Maung, Than Maung, Thein Maung, Win Maung, Win Myint Maung
• Ba Ko, Ko Ko, Ko Ko Kyi, Ko Ko Zin, Min Ko