Chinese Friends: will you help me with a name?

bettielee

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I hope it's ok to post this here - if not, could a mod port it where it belongs.

I have a Chinese character in my story, and I'm so fascinated by the way Chinese names are put together, I seem to be doing more research than writing. I'd also like to point out he isn't the only magical being just because he's Chinese: I have Latinos, Muslims, African and Central American, etc. I'm trying to be multi-cultural.

Anyway - I don't want to cobble together a name that looks like an American cobbled it together and was wondering if I could get some help naming him?

He's a 1000 year old magician. In his old life, he was a fisherman and sort of philosophical fellow who dabbled in the science of his time. He somehow fell into faerie and became magical. The fae threw him out when he started combining fae magic with science. He came back to our world and is sort of a go-between for those who need faerie magic to do more than it should. :) I would like for his name to reflect who he is.

Any suggestions?
 
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Snitchcat

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A philosophical fisher? About 1000 years old. Heh. This'll take some thinking.

Btw, which part of the country would he have been from? Each part would have a slightly different way of naming children and it would also depend on how educated (or not) his parents were. Considering he was a fisherman, I'm thinking his parents would have had no formal schooling, only what was handed down to them.

Maybe a name related to peaceful bountiful seas? Or if his parents were quite the dreamers (unlikely, since Chinese people are highly practical), perhaps something similar to "lord of the seas" or "brilliant achiever"?

Frivolously, was thinking "Li Xiang" ("理想" (ideal) or in this case, "利想" (sharp thoughts) or "麗想" (beautiful thinking). They're all phonetically spelled, "Li Xiang", but the last two don't actually make sense in Chinese. :p). Will do some research. :)
 
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bettielee

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A philosophical fisher? About 1000 years old. Heh. This'll take some thinking.

Btw, which part of the country would he have been from? Each part would have a slightly different way of naming children and it would also depend on how educated (or not) his parents were. Considering he was a fisherman, I'm thinking his parents would have had no formal schooling, only what was handed down to them.

Maybe a name related to peaceful bountiful seas? Or if his parents were quite the dreamers (unlikely, since Chinese people are highly practical), perhaps something similar to "lord of the seas" or "brilliant achiever"?

Frivolously, was thinking "Li Xiang" ("理想" (ideal) or in this case, "利想" (sharp thoughts) or "麗想" (beautiful thinking). They're all phonetically spelled, "Li Xiang", but the last two don't actually make sense in Chinese. :p). Will do some research. :)

Yes, these are all my worries. And he's such a minor character, I admit I hadn't thought of where he came from, and don't know what it would have been 1000 years ago. I also figured he might have changed his name along the way, esp as he is 1000 ears old. I like the idea of "sharp thoughts" :)

I appreciate your input. And thank you!!

鱼梦 Yu Meng is dreaming fisherman - simple name that is meaningful and can be pronounced by an English person without too many difficulties.

This also has a nice ring to it! Thank you!