14 replies to this topic

[cleggy06]

Please can anyone help...

My Daughter was born on Christmas Day this year and I have followed my family name and called her Mei Lim. I am only half chinese, from my Mother's side and she has been in the UK for so long now she finds it difficult to help. Please could you help me with an English translation of 'Mei Lim' and wonder if you can help with her name written in traditional chinese...

I would be so grateful as it is such a beautiful name and I would like my daughter to know more about the name I have chosen for her

I think I have found the character for 'Mei' meaning Beauty 美 As for the meaning for Lim, it has been difficult. I have found the meaning as Forest, Jade or Gem. But as for characters, I found so many and start to get confused.

Forest is 林
Jade is 玉
Gem is 寶石 (but two characters?)

But to put Beautiful and one of the others together, what do I get? I would hate to get it wrong. My Mother's family name 'Lim' I understand is Hokkien.

Thank you so much to anyone that can help as My understanding is limited but means alot me

[Mok]

Please can anyone help...

My Daughter was born on Christmas Day this year and I have followed my family name and called her Mei Lim. I am only half chinese, from my Mother's side and she has been in the UK for so long now she finds it difficult to help. Please could you help me with an English translation of 'Mei Lim' and wonder if you can help with her name written in traditional chinese...

I would be so grateful as it is such a beautiful name and I would like my daughter to know more about the name I have chosen for her

I think I have found the character for 'Mei' meaning Beauty 美 As for the meaning for Lim, it has been difficult. I have found the meaning as Forest, Jade or Gem. But as for characters, I found so many and start to get confused.

Forest is 林
Jade is 玉
Gem is 寶石 (but two characters?)

But to put Beautiful and one of the others together, what do I get? I would hate to get it wrong. My Mother's family name 'Lim' I understand is Hokkien.

Thank you so much to anyone that can help as My understanding is limited but means alot me

Hello there,

Given my knowledge of Hokkien, your mother's surname Lim would be 林 in Chinese characters; it does mean "forest" literally. 寶石 or 玉 aren't Chinese surnames.

As for 美 "Mei", that's a nice but rather common character for a girl's name. If you like the sound of "Mei", perhaps you can consider other characters which are also pronounced "mei", such as 梅 (meaning: plum blossom) or 玫 (meaning: rose)?

You could have these choices:

林美 Lin Mei
林梅 Lin Mei
林玫 Lin Mei

I used Mandarin romanization as I'm not too sure how to romanize Hokkien.

Cheers,
Mok

[kaiselin]

I found only two lim's that were listed as a family surname.

The first is
林 lim2 lín [1] [n] forest; grove; copse [2] [n] collection of books, works, literary extracts, etc. [3] circles; many; numerous; a great body of (capable persons, etc.) [4] a Chinese family name

There is a lim which means gem, but it is not listed as a surname
琳is lim/ lin = gem

臨 traditional 临 simplified[/size]

lim2 lim1 lim3 lín - to look down from above-preside over / to approach / to descend / to come to / to reach / to visit / on the point of / near to / during / at / whilst / while / to copy / to imitate / temporary / provisional / a Chinese family name

I found both thes names were listed as Hokkien.

Mei was not.

Edited by kaiselin, 01 January 2009 - 10:34 AM.

[cleggy06]

[quote name='Mok' date='Jan 1 2009, 02:45 PM' post='4964375']

Many thanks coming back so soon and for all your help. I noticed you have changed the name 'Lim' for 'Lin' are they in fact the same meaning?

As for 美 "Mei", that's a nice but rather common character for a girl's name. If you like the sound of "Mei", perhaps you can consider other characters which are also pronounced "mei", such as 梅 (meaning: plum blossom) or 玫 (meaning: rose)?
You could have these choices:
林美 Lin Mei 林梅 Lin Mei 林玫 Lin Mei

Just to ask, can I have the characters the other way round to reflect her name Mei Lim (sorry for my lack of understanding):

美林 Mei Lim (beautiful Forest)
梅林 Mei Lim (beautiful Blossom)
玫林 Mei Lim (beautiful Rose)

Also 'Beautiful Rose' sounds lovely but is that a direct translation or having "Lim" means that I have to use Forest (beautiful forest) And as this is her first name do I need to worry about 玉 or 寶石 not being surnames. Can I have...

美寶石 Mei Lim (beautiful Gem)

Many thanks again

[Mok]

瀶(I could not find the lim character I was looking for, which should not have the water/ shui radical next to it)

It would be 臨, but it's certainly a rare one and not one used in modern days, as far as I know.

[Mok]

Many thanks coming back so soon and for all your help. I noticed you have changed the name 'Lim' for 'Lin' are they in fact the same meaning?

That's right. Lin is the Mandarin pronunciation of 林, Lim is the Hokkien pronunciation and Lam is the Cantonese pronunciation. The character 林 stays the same no matter what dialect it's pronounced in.

Just to ask, can I have the characters the other way round to reflect her name Mei Lim (sorry for my lack of understanding):

美林 Mei Lim (beautiful Forest)
梅林 Mei Lim (beautiful Blossom)
玫林 Mei Lim (beautiful Rose)

No, not in Chinese characters as surnames always come first. Some Chinese romanize their names with surnames behind their given names, but I'm not really in favour of it because surnames always come first. Unless she's not having an English name? My suggestion would be Mary Lim Mei or something like that.

Also 'Beautiful Rose' sounds lovely but is that a direct translation or having "Lim" means that I have to use Forest (beautiful forest) And as this is her first name do I need to worry about 玉 or 寶石 not being surnames. Can I have...

美寶石 Mei Lim (beautiful Gem)

Many thanks again

林玫 doesn't mean Beautiful Rose I'm afraid. 林 is the surname and 玫 is the given name.

Actually no, because 美寶石 does not reflect the surname 林 anywhere. Also, the name 美寶石 really is quite awkward and makes no sense. I really would suggest, for your daughter's name in traditional Chinese, that you use any of the three choices (if you like the word "Mei"), or you could find another character you like. Better yet, consult a Chinese naming book if possible.

Cheers,
Mok

[Mok]

My Daughter was born on Christmas Day this year and I have followed my family name and called her Mei Lim. I am only half chinese, from my Mother's side and she has been in the UK for so long now she finds it difficult to help. Please could you help me with an English translation of 'Mei Lim' and wonder if you can help with her name written in traditional chinese...

Ah, I realize that you must bear a non-Chinese surname, seeing as your mother is Chinese (no mention of father, so I have to assume). Therefore you could possibly do something like this in English: Mary Mei Lim Johnson. However, I would urge you to use the proper naming conventions for the Chinese characters i.e. 林美, 林梅, or 林玫 (whichever you choose).

[kaiselin]

媄 měi beautiful

媺měi beautiful

瑂 méi (stone which resembles jade)

玫 méi [1] the rose [2] another name of black mica, a sparkling red gem

妹 mèi mei [n] younger sister


These were the characters that seemed the most appropriate for a girls name

It would be 臨, but it's certainly a rare one and not one used in modern days, as far as I know.

Thanks Mok,

I finally found it, but it took some imagination

[fcharton]

Just to ask, can I have the characters the other way round to reflect her name Mei Lim (sorry for my lack of understanding):

美林 Mei Lim (beautiful Forest)
梅林 Mei Lim (beautiful Blossom)
玫林 Mei Lim (beautiful Rose)

Those would mean : beautiful forest, plum forest, rose forest... but note that Lim being a surname its original meaning (forest) is lost (btw, it can be hokkien or teochew), so it is Beautiful Lim, Plum Lim, or Rose Lim...

Personally, I'd use 玫, because it means rose, which is an english given name as well. So if, at some point, she feels she needs a "regular" english name, she already has one... The alternative is to pick a totally different english name, as her second given name, to go along Mei Lim (I did that for my children), in which case, you can choose whichever character you like, or, even better, ask one of the elder in the chinese part of your family to pick one... (this would be the filial thing to do...)

As for the order of the characters, whereas it is true that in chinese surnames are put in front of names, we are here on a western given name (with a chinese origin), and the sound is important... Somehow, Lim Mei doesn't sound very nice, or is easy to pronounce in english...

Francois

[cleggy06]

Thank you so much to you all... As far as I understand it, is the following correct:

美 "Mei" - Madarin, meaning Beautiful (pronounced May)

other characters which are also pronounced "Mei"
梅 (meaning: plum blossom)
玫 (meaning: rose)

林 - "Lim", meaning Forest, Traditionally a Hokkien family name
Lin - Mandarin pronunciation
Lim - Hokkien pronunciation
Lam - Cantonese pronunciation.

The character 林 stays the same no matter what dialect it's pronounced in.

So are the following names, translations and characters now correct

林美 Lim Mei (Forest Beauty)
林梅 Lim Mei (Forest Blossom)
林玫 Lim Mei (Forest Rose)

Thank you again...

[kaiselin]

As for the order of the characters, whereas it is true that in chinese surnames are put in front of names, we are here on a western given name (with a chinese origin), and the sound is important... Somehow, Lim Mei doesn't sound very nice, or is easy to pronounce in english...

Francois

I agree with Francois on this point...
Lim when pronounced Lin, sounds like the English name Lyn (Lynn)
Lyn is usually the last half of combination names.

Examples in girls names:
Caitlyn
Marilyn
Kathlyn
Carolyn
Jaclyn

Also in boys names such as :
Franklyn
Colyn ( Colin)
Carlyn
Mei sounds like the Month of May and is also a common name for girls.

May is usually, but no always the first part of a combo name, for instance:
Mable (short for Maybelle)

Mei Lin would sound like Maylynn which while not a common name, is very pretty and perfectly acceptable especially if you were to say it was a family name.

But no matter which one of those combinations that you end up selecting, they all are beautiful names.

[cleggy06]

Many thanks for the different suggestions and we really like what you have suggested:

Mei Lin would sound like Maylynn which while not a common name, is very pretty and perfectly acceptable especially if you were to say it was a family name.

How about the chinese characters and meaning, as it would be nice to have it traditionally written even if it appears 'Lim Mei':

林美 (Forest Beauty)
林梅 (Forest Blossom)
林玫 (Forest Rose)

Many thanks...

[kaiselin]

Many thanks for the different suggestions and we really like what you have suggested:

Mei Lin would sound like Maylynn which while not a common name, is very pretty and perfectly acceptable especially if you were to say it was a family name.

How about the chinese characters and meaning, as it would be nice to have it traditionally written even if it appears 'Lim Mei':

林美 (Forest Beauty)
林梅 (Forest Blossom)
林玫 (Forest Rose)

Many thanks...

With out a doubt, your daughter will have a name that was well thought out ,as well as beautiful. Any one of those three I would be proud to have if they were suggested for me.

[cleggy06]

林玫

it is then - Many thanks to everyone that helped me understand and finally choose my daughters name - it is all most appreciated and will mean so much in years to come...

Thank you.

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[kaiselin]

林玫

it is then - Many thanks to everyone that helped me understand and finally choose my daughters name - it is all most appreciated and will mean so much in years to come...

Thank you.

林玫 is perfect for her, what a beautiful little girl.