Does your company or brand have the right Chinese name?

The right Chinese name ensures a good start in China
The right Chinese name ensures a good start in China

“A Er Pai Mai Rui De”, “Ai Bi Ai Mu Ge Lai Fen Be Ge“, “Ge Lin Ce Ba Ke“, “Ai Si Ta Ai Mu Si Nai Te“, “A Te La Si Ke Pu Ke“…

 

It doesn’t only sound exotic to you; a Chinese businessperson or consumer would feel the same way too. The names above are just a few examples of Chinese names of European companies. They are pure phonetic translations of the European names and have absolutely no meaning in Chinese.

“To be given a bad name is worse than to be born with a bad fate.” – Cantonese proverb

Branding is extremely important in China due to fierce competition, relatively inexperienced consumers and generally untrustworthy quality standards. A famous brand boosts confidence, makes purchasing decisions easier and is considered a status symbol, even for business-to-business products.

 

A good company/brand name helps you establish and communicate your company or brand values. The name should be distinctive, memorable and relevant to either the brand image, product category or customer benefits. Or all of them. Brands with Chinese names are better accepted and more often searched in the internet. Besides, a Chinese name provides protection from copy cats.

Ways to generate a Chinese name

China’s completely different linguistic system poses a challenge for Western companies seeking a proper Chinese name, for the company itself, its products, brands and even executives. There are thousands of characters and dozens of major dialects that have sometimes completely different pronunciations of the same written words.

 

There are many ways to generate a company or brand name for China:

1. No translation

There is no Chinese name! Examples: IBM , 3M, Ralph Lauren...

 

The major advantage of this approach is global consistency. No matter where you are, IBM is IBM. However, more resources are needed to build the recognition. Besides, Chinese people may find it hard to pronounce the names in foreign languages correctly: IBM becomes “Ai Bee Aimu”, and Ralph Lauren turns out to be “Lafu Laolen”. Or they invent their own Chinese name such as in the case of CitiBank – named as Flowery (colourful) Flag Bank (花旗银行)due to the American flag hoisting on its building. Citibank has adopted it officially.

 

This method is only recommended if the international name is short and easy to pronounce for Chinese people or the brand is already well established in China.

2. Pure phonetic translation

The examples cited at the beginning of this article belong to this category.  Here are a few more examples:

International Chinese           Pronunciation  

Meaning (literal meanings of each single character)

 McDonald’s 麦当劳 Mai Dang Lao Wheat, Equivalent, Labour 
 Atlas Copco 阿特拉斯科普柯  A Te La Si Ke Pu Ke  -
 Volvo 沃尔沃  Wo Er Wo  -
 Siemens 西门子  Xi Men Zi West, Door, Child

These exotic names project an imported image, which is usually positive in China. On the other hand, Chinese is more a visual than an auditory language, and such meaningless combinations of Chinese characters in the name often make it very difficult to be remembered.  Nor do they communicate the company or brand values

3. Phonetic translation with Chinese meanings

While the pronunciations of the Western name are taken into account, the Chinese characters also convey certain meaning, usually related to the brand proposition.  For example:

International    Chinese         Pronunciation Meaning
Hewlett-Packard 惠普 Hui Pu Benefit, Popular
Berndorf 百德福 Bai De Fu Hundred virtues and blessings
 Bosch 博世 Bo Shi Extensive world               
 Ikea 宜家

Yi Jia (Cantonese:

Yi Ga)

Suitable (comfortable) home

Such names are easy to accept and remember. They also help to communicate the brand attributes and values. Through the pronunciation similarity with the original Western name, a certain degree of global consistency can be maintained. However, it is probably the most challenging way to develop a Chinese name.

4. Semantic translation

The names are translated literally, without considering the pronunciation.

International      Chinese       Pronunciation               Meaning
Volkswagen 大众汽车 Da Zhong Qi Che People’s car
General Electric   通用电气       Tong Yong Dian Qi       General Electric          
 Shell Ke Pai Shell brand
 Microsoft 微软 Wei Ruan Micro Soft 

Chinese brand or company names translated this way are easy to remember. They maintain the global branding even though the pronunciations differ.  The challenge is:  most Western brands or company names cannot be semantically translated.

5. Unrelated

The Chinese name is “invented”. It has neither a phonetic nor a semantic relationship to the original Western name.

International Chinese   Pronunciaion Meaning
Citi Bank 花旗银行 Hua Qi Yin Hang   Flowery (colourful) flag bank (historical reasons, see 1.)
Julius Meinl (coffee) 小红帽 Xiao Hong Mao Little red hat (referring the logo)
Continental (tyres) 德国马牌 De Guo Ma Pai

German Horse Brand (referring to the logo)

These names can be easily remembered and can be chosen according to the brand positioning. However, they are not related to the original (global) names.

6. Combination

Some companies combine two or more translation methods in one name, e.g.

International Chinese    Pronunciaion   Meaning
Unilever  联合利华 Lian-He Li-Hua United (semantic), Benefit, China (phonetic with meaning)
Standard & Poor's 标准普尔 Biao-Zhun Pu-Er Standard (semantic), Pu-Er (purely phonetic)

These Chinese names can be easily remembered and, at the same time, phonetically resemble the original names. They are not common because most western brand names cannot be translated in this way.

The right Chinese name – in different dialects

Even though there is only one written Chinese language (two writing systems – simplified and traditional), there are many spoken dialects. Some of them sound completely different from the official spoken dialect, Mandarin (or Putonghua). Therefore, before you finalise your Chinese name, ensure it does not have negative connotations in a major dialect. For example, Peugeot’s Chinese name is "标致" (Biao Zhi – handsome), but in southern China, it sounds like “婊子"(Biao Zi – prostitute). Volvo has a purely phonetic translation of the brand "沃尔沃" (Wo Er Wo). However, the Cantonese pronunciation is completely different: "Yuk Yi Yuk", which is almost a tongue twister.

Developing the perfect Chinese names for companies or brands

Many European companies ask their employees or lawyers in China to find the Chinese name.  The results are often less than optimal. Even Google’s Chinese name (谷歌Gu Ge – Grain Song) was developed by their employees and it was considered strange and unsophisticated.


A good Chinese name is not a guarantee of success, but it could make brand building easier, especially for new brands on the market.  That’s why companies should consult internal or external experts with both language and marketing skills to develop their Chinese brand names. 

About the author:

Janet Mo is the co-founder of Zentron Consulting (www.zentron-consulting.com), specialised in B2B marketing in China. Janet has 22 years marketing experience in China and Europe, including 12 years at renowned advertising agencies such as Ogilvy and Sandberg Trygg, as well as 10 years at the Austrian bearing manufacturer NKE as global Head of Marketing. Janet is fluent in Chinese (Mandarin, Cantonese), English and German.

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Comments: 12
  • #12

    Richard Ajer (Saturday, 06 October 2018 14:41)

    I plan to have spa company what is the best name of may spa thanks..

  • #11

    Jely Sales (Monday, 20 August 2018 07:56)

    Dear Janet,

    We are seeking help to give us a Chinese name to be register in SEC . we are 5 in a group born 1972,(2x)1974,1976,1977. Our name initially are Jely,Angela,Fren,Carmina (aka Army), Mariqueet.

    The business is fall into like Enterprises dealing of multi purpose merchandizer.

    Thank you and hoping for your help into this matter.


    Sincerely,


    Sjillyrose@yahoo.com



  • #10

    Matias (Tuesday, 24 July 2018 19:00)

    looking for suggestions for the Chinese name for my company which we will launch soon in China.

    EUROPE SHUTTLE

    my email is matias@europeshuttle.com

    Thanks.
    Matias

  • #9

    Matias (Tuesday, 24 July 2018 19:00)

    looking for suggestions for the Chinese name for my company which we will launch soon in China.

    EUROPE SHUTTLE

    Thanks.
    Matias

  • #8

    Maya (Tuesday, 14 February 2017 14:18)

    Hi Janet,
    I was born with Maya(my name) and Nair (Family Name). Along the way, I got converted to Muslim and name is Maya Abdullah now. I am starting a beauty (Skincare and Cosmetic) products and need a brand name that is suitable.Could you kindly assist me on this?

    Thanking you in advance.


    Hope to hear from you soon.

    Maya
    maya_n300@yahoo.com (Is my email name ok?)

  • #7

    Janet Mo (Thursday, 28 January 2016 20:58)

    Dear readers,

    If you need any help in naming, please send me an email (china@zentron-consulting.com). Or you have to leave your contact details in your comments.

    Otherwise we cannot handle your inquiries.

    Thanks and regards,
    Janet Mo

  • #6

    jacque frias (Thursday, 28 January 2016 03:39)

    I'm looking for my company name.please suggest other names for my business. its a glass supply.thankyou

  • #5

    Janet Mo (Thursday, 02 January 2014 10:28)

    Dear Muzafer,
    Thanks for your comments. Please let us know your contact details by email: china@zentron-consulting.com

    Regards,
    Janet Mo

  • #4

    Muzafer (Wednesday, 01 January 2014 17:22)

    I am looking to put my company name in Chinese I am selling cashmere shawls my company name is house of handicraft

  • #3

    Janet Mo (Friday, 04 October 2013 17:01)

    Dear Maurice Tsang
    Thanks for your comment.
    Please let us know your contact information by email:
    China@zentron-consulting.com

    Best Regards
    Janet Mo

  • #2

    Maurice Tsang (Friday, 04 October 2013 15:51)

    I'm looking for a Chinese name for my company . James Cropper Speciality paper both in simplified Chinese and traditional Chinese.

  • #1

    KENDRICK (Monday, 16 September 2013 10:10)

    I AM TRYING TO GET A CHINESE NAME FOR MY COMPANY TO BE INCORPORATED IN CHINA. THE ENGLISH NAME OF THE COMPANY IS "THE HANDBAG SPA ".

    PLEASE LET ME KNOW YOUR PROFESSIONAL FEES.

    MY EMAIL ADDRESS: TEHLIMPARTNERS@SINGNET.COM.SG