YellowBridge Chinese American Guide Your Ultimate Bridge to China Guide to Chinese Language and Culture

Chinese for the Casual Learner

Cultural Notes

Chinese Names

In the Confucian society, the individual is second to the family, therefore Chinese names are given in the surname and given name sequence. The complete names is usually three character-long of which the first character is the surname and the last two the given name. There are a few surnames that are two characters-long but they are very rare.

Personal Titles

Personal titles always go after the name itself and can be used with either the full name or just the surname. One exception applies to the very informal titles of xiǎo and lǎo, which go before the surname and should only be used with the surname..

Sir xiānsheng 先生  
Mr. Wang wáng xiānsheng 王先生  
Miss xiǎojie 小姐  
Miss Wang wáng xiǎojie 王小姐  
Madam   ?  
Mrs. Wang wáng tàitai 王太太  
Teacher lǎoshī 老师  
Teacher Wang wáng lǎoshī 王老师  
Master shīfu 师傅 A polite address used for certain professions, such as a restaurant chef, a kungfu teacher, a plumber, etc.
"Young" Wang xiǎo wáng 小王 Very informal title for a younger person up to a young adult.
"Old" Wang lǎo wáng 老王 Very informal title for a middle age person or older.

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