I had a student whose complete Chinese name consisted of a total of 13 strokes. Mine = 38 total strokes.
35 for me.
Could be worse! I could be a č.
2 Likes
This would be āgreatā name: åŖ儽ę£
2 Likes
Not as great as your original name, Keoni! You share the same name as a beloved renowned notorious journalist writer bloke here in Tawan! 
3 Likes
Was told by immigration in Kaohsiung once a Chinese name adopted by a foreigner means nothing even though it was on my ARCā¦Then looked on the back of my wifeās ID card, and behold my Chinese name is on it with no English. So, I guess my wifeās ID card has some meaningless Chinese characters thrown on then?
As far as I can tell, it means a helluva lot more than you may have initially been led to believe.
For me, the following all use my Chinese name: some bank accounts/credit card, Masters/Doctoral diplomas and transcripts, MOE professor certificate, drivers license, lease agreement, work permit and contract, some health documents, local online retailer accounts ā¦
Mine has 45 strokesā¦
1 Like
Mine was the standard translation of my first name and the first syllable of my last name that happens to be a common Chinese Surname. My name is a Biblical name that some Chinese may use.
Itās common enough that they know my English name even before I tell them.
I believe my name like my childrenās names had the added stamp of approval from the shell throwing at the temple, the village fortune teller and the Chinese almanac.
1 Like
My friends kid has 5
1 Like
My Italian name already has an official translation.
馬åÆ.
Taiwanese are always bewildered when I tell them I donāt have an English name.
Last name censored.
4 Likes
I donāt understand why they like to use ke not kou, which seems to be closer to the co in the name
How about é¦¬å£ (Horse Mouth)? 
1 Like
because in Middle Chinese, which was the language first used to translate the Bible, åÆ is read as khĆ³o (IPA: kŹ°É)
Most translation of Biblical names that doesnāt seem to make sense would make perfect sense if you read them in Latin and Middle Chinese of any kind, such as Taigi or Cantonese.
4 Likes
I guess then you guys can finally say straight from the horseās mouth 
5 Likes
I voted yes by choice. The only time I was told that I absolutely needed a Chinese name chop was for registering my scooter ownership (both second hand then later when I bought a new one). It might be different now.
Local friends helped me choose mine. I told them I wanted something that didnāt sound foreign, e.g. å²č夫, but I wanted it to sound as close to my English name as was feasible. They provided several options and in the end I went with the characters with the least strokes, so my full Chinese name has 18 strokes in total.
2 Likes
If Steve is transcribed into Taigi, åøē„ę¦ (Si ti-bĆŗ) looks like a good choice.
2 Likes
Middle Chinese? äøęļ¼
Interesting, couldnāt care less though. Ha ha. Cause we donāt use Middle Chinese here and now, do we?
I use Taigi all the time.
Middle Chinese/Classical Chinese is äøå¤ę¼¢čŖ or ē¶å øę¼¢čŖ, btw.
I have a name given to me by my first-year Mandarin teacher, years ago. I use it here because I think itās neat and itās not like I can introduce myself using it in the west. So I suppose itās by choice, but if I didnāt already have one then I might have been forced to use a transliteration or otherwise choose a name. I also have a different name in Taigi since apparently pronouncing the characters in Taigi sounds weird/possibly dirty, but my teacher wonāt tell me what it sounds likeā¦
1 Like