Personal names in Chinese culture follow a number of conventions different from those of personal names in Western cultures. Most noticeably, a Chinese name is written with the family name first and the given name next, therefore "John-Paul Smith" as a Chinese name would be "Smith John-Paul". For instance, the basketball player Yao Ming should be addressed as "Mr. Yao", not "Mr. Ming".
Some Chinese people who emigrate to, or do business with, Wes...
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Personal names in Chinese culture follow a number of conventions different from those of personal names in Western cultures. Most noticeably, a Chinese name is written with the family name first and the given name next, therefore "John-Paul Smith" as a Chinese name would be "Smith John-Paul". For instance, the basketball player Yao Ming should be addressed as "Mr. Yao", not "Mr. Ming".
Some Chinese people who emigrate to, or do business with, Western countries sometimes adopt a Westernized name by simply reversing the "surname–given-name" order to "given-name–surname" ("Ming Yao", to follow the previous example), or with a Western first name together with their surname, which is then written in the usual Western order with the surname last ("Fred Yao"). Some Chinese people sometimes take a combined name. There are 3 variations: Western name, surname, and Chinese given name, in that order ("Fred Yao Ming"); Western name, Chinese given name, and surname ("Fred Ming Yao"); or surname,...
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