名

Translingual

Stroke order

Stroke order

Han character

名 (Kangxi radical 30, 口+3, 6 strokes, cangjie input 弓戈口 (NIR), four-corner 2760₀, composition ⿱夕口)

Derived characters

• 佲, 𠱷, 姳, 𭚮, 𢙛, 𭠬, 洺, 㫥, 𣭨, 𭩹, 𤥁, 眳, 𥏍, 𥒊, 䊅, 𥿨, 𠸜, 𮕿, 詺(𬣮), 𫏉, 酩, 銘(铭), 𩳊, 𭜇, 𪗸, 𭃞, 𪟚, 𬼨, 𨚷, 𢻇, 𭭊, 𠸛, 㗮, 𨿅, 𬱃, 𡖺, 𮬶, 𡅖, 㚚, 𡷂, 茗, 𬔽, 𣜞, 𡖚, 𡒒

Further reading

• Kangxi Dictionary: page 175, character 9
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 3297
• Dae Jaweon: page 391, character 2
• Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 1, page 582, character 6
• Unihan data for U+540D

Chinese

Glyph origin

Historical forms of the character 名
Shang	Western Zhou	Shuowen Jiezi (compiled in Han)	Liushutong (compiled in Ming)
Oracle bone script	Bronze inscriptions	Small seal script	Transcribed ancient scripts

Ideogrammic compound (會意／会意) : 夕 (“crescent moon”) + 口 (“mouth”) — to say one's own name to identify oneself in the dark.

An alternative theory has been proposed based on Shang era texts. 口 was originally used to write both 口 and 名. 夕 standing for what later came to be written 明, was added as a phonetic indicator to disambiguate the two meanings.

Etymology

From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *r-miŋ (“name”). Cognate with Tibetan མིང (ming), Burmese အမည် (a.many), and Mizo hming.

Pronunciation

Definitions

名

1. name

   書名／书名  ―  shūmíng  ―  title of the book

   給它起個名兒／给它起个名儿  ―  gěi tā qǐ ge míngr  ―  give it a name

   • 凡接待他的，就是信他名的人，他就賜他們權柄，作神的兒女。 [MSC, trad.]
     凡接待他的，就是信他名的人，他就赐他们权柄，作神的儿女。 [MSC, simp.]

     From: John 1.12

     Fán jiēdài tā de, jiùshì xìn tā míng de rén, tā jiù cì tāmen quánbǐng, zuò Shén de érnǚ.

     But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name.

2. given name

   Coordinate term: 姓 (xìng)

3. reputation; fame

   有名  ―  yǒumíng  ―  famous

   名利  ―  mínglì  ―  fame and fortune

4. famous; reputable

   名牌  ―  míngpái  ―  having a good brand name; a brand name product

5. excuse; form; ostensible purpose

   師出有名／师出有名  ―  shīchūyǒumíng  ―  to do something for a good and proper reason

6. (grammar) Short for 名詞／名词 (míngcí, “noun”).
7. (grammar) Short for 專有名詞／专有名词 (zhuānyǒu míngcí, “proper noun”).
8. (archaic, mathematics, arithmetic) sign

   • 同名相乘曰正，異名相乘為負。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
     同名相乘曰正，异名相乘为负。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

     From: Zhu Shijie, 《算學啟蒙》, Yuan Dynasty (c. 1299)

     Tóng míng xiāngchéng yuē zhèng, yì míng xiāngchéng wéi fù.

     The product of two numbers of the same sign is positive. The product of two numbers of opposite signs is negative.

9. to be called

   伊名什乇？ [Eastern Min, trad. and simp.]

   Ĭ miàng sié-nó̤h? / [Bàng-uâ-cê / IPA]

   What's his/her name?

   • 我本漢室宗親，姓劉，名備。 [Written Vernacular Chinese, trad.]
     我本汉室宗亲，姓刘，名备。 [Written Vernacular Chinese, simp.]

     From: Romance of the Three Kingdoms, circa 14^th century CE

     Wǒ běn hànshì zōngqīn, xìng Liú, míng Bèi.

     I am a descendant of Han imperial family, my Surname is Liu, my name is Bei.

10. to describe; to give details of

    莫名其妙  ―  mòmíngqímiào  ―  baffling

11. Classifier for place in a competition or position in a name list.
12. Classifier for people with a certain status or identity.

Synonyms

• (name): 名字 (míngzi)

Compounds

References

• “名”, in 漢語多功能字庫 (Multi-function Chinese Character Database)‎, 香港中文大學 (the Chinese University of Hong Kong), 2014–
• “Entry #2127”, in 臺灣閩南語常用詞辭典 (overall work in Mandarin and Hokkien), Ministry of Education, R.O.C., 2023.

Japanese

Kanji

(grade 1 “Kyōiku” kanji)

Readings

• Go-on: みょう (myō, Jōyō)^{←みやう (myau, historical)}
• Kan-on: めい (mei, Jōyō)
• Kun: な (na, 名, Jōyō); なのる (nanoru, 名); なづける (nazukeru, 名ける)
• Nanori: あきら (akira); かた (kata); なづく (nazuku); もり (mori)

Compounds

Etymology 1

From Old Japanese, from Proto-Japonic *na (compare Okinawan 名 (nā)).

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) な (Heiban – )
• IPA^(key):

Noun

名(な) • (na) 

1. name

   名(な)を連(つら)ねる

   na o tsuraneru

   put one's name on (a list)

   名(な)ばかりの

   na bakari no

   in name only

   • 2013 July 20, “暗(あん)黒(こく)界(かい)の騎(き)士(し) ズール”, in ハーフデッキ　闇(やみ), Konami:

     暗(あん)黒(こく)界(かい)でその名(な)を知(し)らぬ者(もの)はいない、誇(ほこ)り高(たか)き騎(き)士(し)。決(けっ)して弱(よわ)き者(もの)に手(て)を下(くだ)す事(こと)はない。

     Ankokukai de sono na o shiranu mono wa inai, hokoritakaki kishi. Kesshite yowaki mono ni te o kudasu koto wa nai.

     Everyone in the Dark World knows the name of this illustrious knight. He never oppresses the commoners.

2. reputation

   名(な)が響(ひび)いている

   na ga hibiite iru

   be famous

   名(な)が上(あ)がる

   na ga agaru

   become famous

   名(な)を上(あ)げる/現(あらわ)す/成(な)す/売(う)る

   na o ageru/arawasu/nasu/uru

   become famous, make one's name

   • Usage note: 名を上げる differs from 名が上がる in that the subject purposefully did something to make themselves famous.

Derived terms

Etymology 2

From Middle Chinese 名 (MC mjieng, “name”).

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) め​ー (Atamadaka – )
• IPA^(key):

Counter

名(めい) • (-mei) 

1. counter word for people, persons

Noun

名(めい) • (mei) 

1. name

Prefix

名(めい) • (mei-) 

1. famous, great, noted

References

Korean

Etymology

From Middle Chinese 名 (MC mjieng).

Pronunciation

• (SK Standard/Seoul) IPA^(key):
• Phonetic hangul:

Hanja

Korean Wikisource has texts containing the hanja:

名

Wikisource

名 (eumhun 이름 명 (ireum myeong))

1. Hanja form^? of 명 (“name”).
2. Hanja form^? of 명 (“famous; great; noted”).

Compounds

References

• 국제퇴계학회 대구경북지부 (國際退溪學會 大邱慶北支部) (2007). Digital Hanja Dictionary, 전자사전／電子字典.

Kunigami

Kanji

名

Readings

• Kun: なー (nā, 名)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /naː/

Noun

名(なー) (nā) 

1. name

Miyako

Kanji

名

Readings

• Kun: なー (nā, 名)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /naː/

Noun

名 (hiragana なー, rōmaji nā)

1. name

Okinawan

Kanji

(grade 1 “Kyōiku” kanji)

Readings

• On (unclassified): みょー (myō); のー (nō)
• Kun: なー (nā, 名)

Compounds

• 大(でー)名(みょー) (dēmyō)
• 大(でー)名(みょー)方(がた) (dēmyōgata)
• 名(みょー)字(じ) (myōji), 名(のー)字(じ) (nōji)

Etymology

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /naː/

Noun

名(なー) (nā) 

1. name

References

• “ナー（なー）” in Okinawan Dialect Dictionary - Ajima.

Vietnamese

Han character

名: Hán Việt readings: danh (民(dân)瞑(manh)切(thiết))
名: Nôm readings: ranh, danh, rành, quanh, dinh, gianh

1. chữ Hán form of danh (“famous; well-known”).

Compounds

References

Yaeyama

Kanji

名

Readings

• Kun: なー (nā, 名)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /naː/

Noun

名 (hiragana なー, rōmaji nā)

1. name

Yonaguni

Kanji

名

Readings

• Kun: なー (nā, 名)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key):

Noun

名 (hiragana なー, rōmaji nā)

1. name

References

• “なー【名】” in JLect - Japonic Languages and Dialects Database Dictionary, 2019.

Zhuang

Pronoun

名

1. Sawndip form of mwngz