I get my names from behindthename.com, and I used Lê Xuan in my novel. However, I'm not sure which is the family name and which is the given. Can someone with more familiarity give me an opinion? Plsnthx.
Also, it depends on WHERE your character is. A Chinese in Singapore or China would have the surname first, in English speaking countries they'd put the surname last because when in Rome...
Also, it depends on WHERE your character is. A Chinese in Singapore or China would have the surname first, in English speaking countries they'd put the surname last because when in Rome...
There's also a "when" factor as well. A lot of Singaporeans who are of Chinese descent these days may also put their individual name first and family name last. This is especially true if their family gave them a western name like Alice or Steve. I've met Chinese Singaporeans with traditional Chinese names that actually switched over to the Western convention anyway, because their families grew up having so many dealings with Westerners that it was just easier to do it that way. So there are actually a LOT of factors at play, especially when it comes to individual/family preferences for name arrangement.
When I lived in Singapore, the usual official thing for Chinese is to have SURNAME + CHINESE FIRST NAME + ENGLISH FIRST NAME. You can do whatever you want unofficially, but at that time, even though I wasn't born in Singapore and usually have my chinese surname last, I was automatically switched to surname first in all official documents. But we're digressing... OP probably isn't looking for anything so complicated...
This is also true for the purposes of the story being written.
But oh wow, you lived in Singapore as well? When was this?
I did primary school to junior college there. Let's say 1990+s. I'm an old crone.
Well, Captain Le is a couple million miles that way, captaining a space ship. And I never specify his exact ethnicity. The only indication that he isn't white is the name.
And to be honest, I know of people with the last name Dennis and other people with the first name Taylor, so I don't know how critical it is. I just didn't want to make a glaring error that would make readers facepalm.
I did primary school to junior college there. Let's say 1990+s. I'm an old crone.
Duuuude, I did primary to secondary school in Singapore in the 90s, we are not old crones, dammit.
Man, clearly Singapore is some kind of nexus.
Which is kind'a, sort'a true, actually....
Singapore is the fuckin' best. Would love to live there again someday. Singlish is hands-down my favorite language on earth. And food in Singapore is a close second to food in Japan, IMO.
I used Lê Xuan in my novel.
Lê Xuan is a Vietnamese name.
"Lê" is not Chinese.
Captain Le is a couple million miles that way, captaining a space ship. And I never specify his exact ethnicity.
I think that even if you never specify in the book, you should know which Asian country he's from, to avoid the face-palming errors. Lê Xuan to me sounds Vietnamese
For the record, Le (樂) is a Chinese surname. It's rare, kind of archaic, but yes, it's Chinese, as is the word xuan. So really it's not that odd a conclusion to jump to. But I see what you're saying. I mistook the Vietnamese Lê for the Chinese Le, which are two totally different words. It's always tricky when you dont have the original character to go by.
I don't think the circumflex above 'e' is standard for Chinese romanization, though, whereas it's used in written Vietnamese.
ETA: Vietnamese Lê is apparently equivalent to Chinese 黎 (Li).