Chinese surname of mixed raced baby

googhost

New Member
Hi, I'm Chinese Singaporean and expecting my first child with my Caucasian husband. I wonder what's the norm for the Chinese surname of a kid in a mixed race marriage like ours. Would it be the literal translation of my husband's surname? If so, must it be simplified to one character, as most Chinese surnames are? Or can it be two characters, since my husband's surname has two syllables? Or would the surname be the mother's (aka my birth surname)? Anyone who's been there and done that, please advise!
 


Hi, I'm Chinese Singaporean and expecting my first child with my Caucasian husband. I wonder what's the norm for the Chinese surname of a kid in a mixed race marriage like ours. Would it be the literal translation of my husband's surname? If so, must it be simplified to one character, as most Chinese surnames are? Or can it be two characters, since my husband's surname has two syllables? Or would the surname be the mother's (aka my birth surname)? Anyone who's been there and done that, please advise!

Hello. My son adopted my last name for his Chinese surname. No issues and no raised eyebrows faced at all with our decision. My son is coming to 6 months now.
 
Hello. My son adopted my last name for his Chinese surname. No issues and no raised eyebrows faced at all with our decision. My son is coming to 6 months now.

Thanks. How did you come to the decision? I've understood from a few other sources of mixed couples who also adopt the Chinese mum's last name. But my husband said he heard from a colleague who works part-time at SGH that she usually sees the baby take on a phonetic version of the last name in Chinese characters if it's a Caucasian dad.
 
A name, especially a last name, should be meaningful. Adopting the mother's family name would be meaningful.

What does the phonetic version of the father's English last name means to the father? If it means a lot, sure. If the father doesn't even know it, cannot pronounce it.... then it has no meaning.

Also, the English and Chinese name doesn't need to be the same. or even sounds similar. Which is what Indonesian often use. The English name and Chinese names are totally different. Entirely different. I have seen French-French and French-Chinese do the same.
 
Thanks. How did you come to the decision? I've understood from a few other sources of mixed couples who also adopt the Chinese mum's last name. But my husband said he heard from a colleague who works part-time at SGH that she usually sees the baby take on a phonetic version of the last name in Chinese characters if it's a Caucasian dad.

It was an easy decision to make. Translating my husband's last name into a Chinese surname sounds comical, weird and pretentious all at the same time. I wanted to give my son a proper Chinese name and surname so he wouldn't be teased in school in future and no one in the family had any objections whatsoever so it was a no brainer for my son to adopt my last name for his Chinese surname.
 
Hi googhost,

The Chinese name and English Name need not be the same given your situation.

The phonetic translation of the father's last name will not have much meaning too.

Hence the English name follows the father last name, while the Chinese name can follow the mother's surname.

If you need help in selecting an auspicious Chinese name, you may contact us

Website:
http://www.sgbabyname.com
Email: [email protected]
Contact/ WhatsApp: 98893128

Reference:

http://www.sgbabyname.com/chinese-name-selection

http://www.sgbabyname.com/chinese-name-analysis-service


Thanks

Master SC Chan
 
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