[Ernabel]

I was doing some research on names. I saw that Mei Mei means little sister and I really liked that (we have a 5 yo bio son). I am wondering if Mei is pronounced "may"? Does anyone know for sure?

My husband and I had not actually talked about names to each other just yet. My parents and sister asked what names we were thinking of and my husband says that he likes the name "May." I almost fell off the chair and then I told him what I had read.

Does anyone know the correct pronunciation of Mei? Also, since the Chinese have special meanings to their names, does anyone know if Mei would be an appropriate first name? Thanks!

[Marshie]

Yes its pronounced "May" and is common as a chinese name. It means beautiful if said in the proper tone. Like you said, in the proper tone, Mei Mei means little sister I don't remember the proper tones and the moment but I'll post them if I remember, unless someone else beats me to it!

[An Song Tao]

Mèimei in Pinyin. The first "mei" is a high to low tone and the second "mei" is neutral (de-emphasized and shortened). The Chinese characters are: 妹妹 (literally means: little sister little sister). Often with children the first word of their given name is repeated as a term of enderment. Also, the Chinese are very into word plays and multiple meanings. Thus you could use the word for beautiful, Mĕi, in a name with, for example, Lán (orchid 兠). So the full name would be Mĕi Lán and a term of enderment for the child could be Mĕi Mèi (beautiful little sister), a word play on the term for little sister.
Mĕi means beautiful (媠) and is a falling then rising tone.

[Ernabel]

Thank you for your responses and please excuse my ignorance. What if I don't pronounce it correctly? I'm not sure if I understand your instructions as I know nothing of the Chinese language. Thanks.

[An Song Tao]

There are 4 basic tones in spoken Mandarin and written Pinyin (the romanization of chinese character sounds). 1st is a level or monotone, 2nd is rising tone (like you are asking a question), 3rd is a falling then rising tone (combine 4th then 2nd), 4th is falling tone (like making a firm statment). Ex. Mēi (1), Méi (2), Mĕi (3), Mèi (4).

To give you an example using Mei of the various meanings: Mei (1) is not a word and has no meaning (which is unusual). Mei (2) can mean a kind of jade, small pieces, eyebrow, small berries, chinese plum, tenderloin, chinese ferret-badger, matchmaker, lintel of a door, coal, enzyme, the element americium, a babbler bird, mildew, millet, and can be used as a negative in a sentance or as a surname. Mei (3) can mean every, beautiful, America, contaminate, ripples, or magnesium. Mei (4) can mean younger sister, ignorant, sleeve, riddle, anxiety illness, catnap, flatter, charm, or evil spirit.

So you can see that even if you say it in the correct tone, it could still mean any number of things. However, the characters are written the same whether you referring to Cantonese or Mandarin. So you could always bring a card with her name written in Chinese characters to show people. It is only in this way that they will truely understand what her name means. Spoken, the name could have any number of meanings, but written...it will have only one.

[maureen3770]

Originally Posted by An Song Tao

Mèimei in Pinyin. The first "mei" is a high to low tone and the second "mei" is neutral (de-emphasized and shortened). The Chinese characters are: 妹妹 (literally means: little sister little sister). Often with children the first word of their given name is repeated as a term of enderment. Also, the Chinese are very into word plays and multiple meanings. Thus you could use the word for beautiful, Mĕi, in a name with, for example, Lán (orchid 兠). So the full name would be Mĕi Lán and a term of enderment for the child could be Mĕi Mèi (beautiful little sister), a word play on the term for little sister.
Mĕi means beautiful (媠) and is a falling then rising tone.

An Song Tao,

Thanks for the explanation...it helps me too! How would you say "beautiful flower"? I'm assuming is would be "mei (something)".

thanks!

Maureen

[An Song Tao]

Originally Posted by maureen3770

An Song Tao,

Thanks for the explanation...it helps me too! How would you say "beautiful flower"? I'm assuming is would be "mei (something)".

thanks!

Maureen

It depends on what flower you are referring to or if you just mean flower in general. I believe Huā (芠) is a general term for flower.

Check out this online Chinese dictionary. You can look up by english words or by Pinyin: http://www.pzlabs.com/soleri/ . (I hope it is ok with the moderators that I included that link. Let me know if I have been bad. )

[maureen3770]

Yes, hua is the general term for flower, but I have been told that it is not commonly used in china. I really like MeiLan for a middle name though...I might use it!

Thanks,

Maureen

[Marshie]

MeiLan is a really cute name, and I think its a great choice as a middle name. I wouldnt use it for a first name though cause you know every kid and many adults she meets would automatically call her MuLan. I know you said middle name, I just wanted to interject since no one ever says my name without going "Marsha Marsha Marsha! Its ALWAYS Marsha!". It gets old

[Ernabel]

Maureen - Were you thinking of using Mei too before I even posted? I too like Mei Lan. I do sort of want to give my daughter an American first name, and, use her given name for her middle name. I am not sure yet.

[An Song Tao]

Maureen, I came across another option for hua. Here is an entry from an online dictionary:

[ méi huā ]
梅花
plum blossom


[ měi líng ]
美玲 is also nice. I means, roughly, exquisite and delicate beauty, I believe.

[looneytunes32]

Originally Posted by An Song Tao

[ měi líng ]
美玲 is also nice. I means, roughly, exquisite and delicate beauty, I believe.

I had a dream last February that I was introducing my daughter, and this was her name.
How does Megan MeiLing sound?

[An Song Tao]

Originally Posted by An Song Tao

Mèimei in Pinyin. The first "mei" is a high to low tone and the second "mei" is neutral (de-emphasized and shortened). The Chinese characters are: 妹妹 (literally means: little sister little sister). Often with children the first word of their given name is repeated as a term of enderment. Also, the Chinese are very into word plays and multiple meanings. Thus you could use the word for beautiful, Mĕi, in a name with, for example, Lán (orchid 兠). So the full name would be Mĕi Lán and a term of enderment for the child could be Mĕi Mèi (beautiful little sister), a word play on the term for little sister.
Mĕi means beautiful (媠) and is a falling then rising tone.

Just wanted to make a correction. For small children, the Chinese generally repeat the second word of the given name, not the first as I stated in my post above. My bad! So, for example, "Mei Lan" would be "Lan Lan" as a nickname for a small child. Apparantly, the first name is often used in other siblings names. While the second is unique for that child. One more example, An Song Tao. "An" is my surname or family name, "Song" would be a name common among my siblings, and "Tao" would be a name used only for me. My childhood nickname would have been "Tao Tao". Hope I cleared that up !

[twoinblue]

There are a lot of people thinking about using Mei in their daughter's name and we are one of them.

In a baby names book the name Meiying is said to mean beautiful flower.

We have considered Katherine Meiying as a name and would call her Katie Mei. I'm sure everyone would mispell it though.

[Leilani's Mom]

We are using Mei as a middle name too.... Leilani Mei. We like it :-)