Naming Your Baby: Essential Tips Every Parent Must Know (Public Health Network)
"Better to be born with an ugly face than bear a wrong name." For five millennia, from royalty to commoners, renaming children has been taken extremely seriously. So what should new moms keep in mind when naming their babies? Let's explore together.
Five Taboos in Naming Characters Every Expectant Mother Should Remember
1. Avoid Unlucky Characters in Baby Names
Names should prioritize auspicious and positive characters, steering clear of those with inauspicious meanings or connotations. Examples include: 病 (illness), 贫 (poverty), 死 (death), 疯 (madness), 凶 (violent), 血 (blood), 伤 (injury), 夭 (premature death), 亡 (perish), 损 (damage), 恶 (evil), etc.While we live in a science-oriented era where few believe names bring misfortune, first impressions in social interactions remain crucial. A good name creates positive associations before meeting the person, whereas an inauspicious one may trigger negative feelings upfront—potentially costing your child future opportunities.
2. Avoid Unrefined Characters in Baby Names
An elegant name can enhance one's aura, especially when it harmonizes with the individual's inherent qualities. For instance, naming a slender girl "Pingting" (娉婷) evokes harmony and beauty.Conversely, vulgar characters can provoke laughter or even disgust, such as: pig, dog, donkey, dirty, fat, dumb, stupid, clumsy, foolish, beast, etc. In traditional Chinese rural areas, there was a custom of naming children with lowly or ugly words, like "Dog Egg" or "Big Fool," under the belief that "humble names bring longevity."Though dogs are endearing creatures, describing or addressing people with "pig" or "dog" carries connotations of contempt and insult. In modern civilized cities, naming children this way invites ridicule, undermines their self-confidence, and casts an indelible shadow on their young minds—a custom that should be abandoned.
3. Avoid Obscure Characters in Baby Names
Obscure characters refer to those beyond the national Level 2 character set, rarely used in modern Chinese. In today's computer-driven society, such characters create significant inconveniences: children may face embarrassing situations like teachers mispronouncing their names during roll call;When applying for household registration, ID cards, passports, or other documents, the characters may not print correctly. Therefore, they are highly unsuitable for names. Examples include: 遄, 炱, 芏, 氍, etc.
4. Avoid overly commonplace characters in baby names
Certain overly common characters, used excessively by many people, lack distinctiveness and easily result in duplicate names. Duplicate names often cause inconveniences in daily life. Therefore, when naming a baby, one should also strive to avoid commonplace characters. For instance, an article in the Beijing Morning Post reported that in Beijing alone, there are over ten thousand people named "Wang Tao."
5. Avoid names of ancestors and sages
Han Chinese naming conventions generally avoid using the names of ancestors. This stems from the unique nature of Han culture.Han surnames are inherited from the father, followed by an individual given name. If a given name combines the father's surname with an ancestor's name, the two become indistinguishable—making it impossible to tell whether "Li Si" refers to the grandfather or the son. Secondly, Han tradition places great emphasis on generational hierarchy. Using an ancestor's name disrupts this order and is considered disrespectful to ancestors.
Ten Considerations for Naming Your Baby for Auspiciousness
1. Pay Attention to Character Form
Chinese characters are pictographic, originating from imitations of the world's phenomena. Just as objects have form, so do characters. Like people, characters vary in size, height, strength, and build. Moreover, character form subtly influences the bearer.For instance, individuals with the character "丰" (fēng, meaning "abundant") in their name may tend toward a fuller physique, as the traditional form's numerous strokes suggest plumpness. Conversely, those bearing the character "飞" (fēi, meaning "fly") in their name may exhibit a slimmer build and a tendency toward activity, as the dynamic strokes of its traditional form convey a sense of flight.Additionally, ancient Chinese believed characters possessed spiritual power. Thus, each written character functions like a Taoist talisman, carrying auspicious or inauspicious effects—names are no exception.
2. Pay Attention to Phonetics
Phonetics involve two aspects. First, from a public perspective, a good name should be easy to read and remember, rolling off the tongue smoothly. It should embody rhythmic beauty in pronunciation, avoiding awkwardness or harshness—this is a fundamental requirement for naming.Chinese characters have four tones: first tone (level), second tone (rising), third tone (falling-rising), and fourth tone (falling). When naming, scientifically balancing yin and yang tones and matching level and rising tones creates a harmonious sound. On the other hand, Chinese characters correspond to the five musical tones—gong, shang, jue, zhi, and yu—and their combinations thus influence the five viscera and six bowels. Used appropriately, they can attract good fortune and ward off misfortune.
3. Consider Character Attributes
Character attributes encompass two dimensions: auspiciousness/inauspiciousness and Five Elements classification. Auspiciousness/inauspiciousness is the most common issue in naming.For instance, characters like "雪" (xue, snow) and "梅" (mei, plum) are popular in naming, yet few realize "雪" carries connotations of fickleness, remarriage, widowhood, and midlife calamities, while "梅" suggests romantic misfortune, suicidal tendencies, and a life fraught with disasters. The Five Elements attributes of characters, however, are crucial in naming, as the harmony between a name and one's destiny is primarily reflected through these elements.
4. Consider Character Meanings
People often invest significant thought into the meanings of characters when naming, infusing their hopes and aspirations into them—which is perfectly understandable. However, human psychology carries strong era-specific traits. This manifests in naming by causing certain characters to be overused by the majority, turning elegant names into clichés. It's important to note that character meanings can also exert a certain guiding influence on the fate of the person bearing the name.
5. Consider Numerology
Chinese metaphysics, also known as divinatory arts, much like Western science grounded in mathematics, heavily emphasizes numbers. Examples include Ziwei Dou Shu, Liu Ren Shu, Taiyi Shu, and Tai Xuan Shu. This stems from the metaphysical approach of understanding phenomena through three dimensions: symbolism, numbers, and principles. Among these, "numbers" represent the most fundamental essence of things.Numbers are the origin of all things. They begin with one and end with zero, cycling endlessly through an eternal, boundless order without chaos—this is the great truth of the universe. Every phenomenon between heaven and earth, from the formation of celestial bodies to the birth of dust particles, arises from the gathering, dispersing, separating, and uniting of these numbers. In this sense, the "numbers" in numerology transcend mere quantities; they embody the immense power of cosmic nature.
6. Consider Destiny Principles
When naming, destiny principles must be taken into account. No matter how well-chosen the characters or numerical values of a name may be, if it conflicts with the Five Elements of one's destiny chart, it should not be used.The natal chart serves as the vessel for an individual's life information, traditionally known as the "Four Pillars" or "Eight Characters." Whether for personal or corporate names, the informational energy carried must harmonize with the natal chart to fundamentally drive the activation and transmission of positive influences while effectively suppressing the growth and spread of negative energies. This constitutes the core principle of auspicious naming—all other considerations must be built upon this foundation and never contravene it.
7. Pay Attention to the Principles of the I Ching
The I Ching states: "The interplay of yin and yang is called the Way." For naming, the arrangement of characters must embody the principle of perpetual renewal and the harmony of yin and yang. In setting informational energy, it must be neither excessive nor deficient, achieving a state of balanced harmony and order—this is called conforming to the principles of the I Ching.More specifically, the principles of the I Ching encompass the principles of yin and yang, simplicity, change, and constancy. The manifestation of these four principles is judged by whether they attain the realm of "primordial, prosperous, advantageous, and steadfast." Regarding the application of I Ching numerology, there are multiple methods. The most common involves using the numerical value of a name to cast hexagrams and determine auspiciousness or inauspiciousness. Auspiciousness aligns with the principles of the I Ching, while inauspiciousness violates them—the outcome is immediately clear.
8. Pay Attention to the Pattern
The structure of a name's strokes and the distribution of the 108 Purple Star constellations across the twelve palaces of life generate crucial information with specific influence. The quality of a name is not solely determined by the traditional Five-Character Analysis method.
9. Pay Attention to the Inner Meaning