Chinese Boy Names: 100 Names With Characters and Meanings

Chinese boy names such as Hao, Kai, Junjie, Haoran and Zhiming get their meaning from the characters used to write them, so this list of 100 gives the Chinese characters for every name and what those characters mean.

Every name below was checked against its own Behind the Name entry. The meaning of a Chinese given name depends on the characters chosen, and one sound can be written with different characters, so treat each meaning as a common example, not the only one.

You will find two-character names, short one-syllable names, families of names built on shared characters, names grouped by meaning, and names from Chinese mythology. We also explain how Chinese names work (family name first, pinyin, tones) and how to choose one with care.

Chinese Boy Names at a Glance

Every name in our tables has its own Behind the Name entry with Chinese (or Chinese Mythology) usage. We read all 100 entries in October 2026 and printed the characters, glosses and gender label each entry gives.

Many Chinese given names are used for both boys and girls, and Behind the Name lists them as unisex (“Masculine & Feminine” or “Feminine & Masculine”). The “Gender listed” column copies each entry’s label exactly; the order is the reference’s, and we do not treat it as a measure of how often each gender uses the name. Of the 100 names here, 33 are listed as masculine only and 67 are listed for both boys and girls.

More unisex names, including many that lean toward girls, are on our Chinese girl names page in its unisex section. Each name appears on only one of the two pages, and we left out anything we could not check against a real entry.

Here is the one idea that makes every row below make sense. A Chinese given name is a sound written with characters, and Behind the Name notes that depending on the characters used, these names can have many other meanings besides those listed. Hao is a good example: its entry gives 昊, “summer, sky, heaven”, and 浩, “great, numerous, vast”. Same sound, two different meanings.

If you want ideas from many languages too, our main list of baby boy names is a good companion.

Chinese Boy Names and Meanings

These two-character names each pair two ideas. Read the meaning column as “one common way to write it”. Each entry adds that other character combinations can form the same name. We start with names listed as masculine only.

• Heping: its entry says the whole name means “peace”. Both characters carry the idea, since 和 is “harmony, peace” and 平 is “level, even, peaceful”.
• Jiahao and Zihao: share their second character, 豪, “brave, heroic, chivalrous”. Jiahao opens with 家, “home, family”. Zihao opens with 子, “child”, or 梓, “catalpa tree”, so the same spoken name can lean toward family or toward nature depending on the writing.
• Junjie: stacks two compliments: 俊, “talented, handsome”, and 杰, “heroic, outstanding”.
• Zonghan: joins 宗, “lineage, ancestry”, with 翰, “writing, painting”.

The next group is listed for both boys and girls. Several share building blocks: 宇 (yǔ), “house, eaves, universe”, opens Yuxuan, Yuze and Yuhang and closes Haoyu and Guanyu; 泽 (zé) closes Yuze, Yize and Mingze; and 子 (zǐ), “child”, opens Zimo and Zirui.

Haoran is the other name whose entry gives a whole-name meaning: “great, principled”. Guanting and Guanyu both open with 冠, “cap, crown, headgear”. Haiyang shows how one character changes the feel: written 海洋 it is “sea” plus “ocean”, and written 海阳 it is “sea” plus “light, sun, male”.

How Chinese Names Work: Characters, Order and Pinyin

Most English-language lists skip this part, but it changes how you read every meaning on the page.

• Family name first: Behind the Name’s background page says Chinese names consist of a surname and a given name, usually presented in that order. Arizona State University’s School of International Letters and Cultures says the same and notes that many Chinese people abroad use the Western order, giving the cellist Yo-Yo Ma as its example.
• One or two characters: according to Behind the Name, Chinese given names usually consist of two syllables, though it is also common to use only one. Each syllable is written with one character, so a given name is usually one or two characters long.
• Almost limitless combinations: those syllables can be any of thousands of Chinese characters, the same page says, although in practice some characters are chosen more often than others.
• Meaning lives in the characters: the Behind the Name list of Chinese names warns that depending on the characters used, a name can have many other meanings besides those listed. That is why our tables give characters, not just a translation.
• Gender often lives in the characters too: many entries point out that one character leans masculine while another with the same sound does not. Huang written 煌, “bright, shining, luminous”, is usually only masculine, and Yang written 阳, “light, sun, male”, is typically only masculine, per their entries.
• Simplified and traditional: the entries give simplified characters first and, where they differ, traditional characters. Kai is 凯 in simplified and 凱 in traditional writing. Both are the same name.
• Pinyin spelling: pinyin is a system that uses letters of the Latin alphabet to transcribe Mandarin sounds, per Arizona State University. Behind the Name says Chinese names are generally romanized in pinyin, with older systems such as Wade-Giles also used, especially in Taiwan.
• Written together or with a hyphen: in mainland China the two characters of a given name are usually written together (Zhiming), while in Taiwan they are typically separated by a hyphen, according to Behind the Name. The Library of Congress romanization guidelines likewise join syllables in personal names that Wade-Giles hyphenated.
• Tones: Mandarin is a tonal language, and the ASU guide notes that tones are not usually marked in everyday romanization. The small marks in our meaning column (the line over gāng, the accent over qiáng) are the tone marks the entries print.

Behind the Name also notes that Cantonese speakers in Guangdong, Hong Kong and the wider diaspora sometimes put a space between the two syllables of a given name. None of the entries on this page gives a Cantonese spelling, so every name here is in pinyin.

Short One-Syllable Chinese Boy Names

One-character given names are common in Chinese, and they travel well: most are easy to say in English and short enough to pair with almost any surname or middle name. The first eight are listed as masculine only.

Long can mean “dragon” or “prosperous, abundant”, and its entry lists Vietnamese usage as well as Chinese. Han can be written 汉, which also refers to the Han Chinese people, or 翰, “writing, painting”. Kai needs one extra note: Behind the Name lists several unrelated names spelled Kai, including a Hawaiian name meaning “sea” and a name used in Northern Europe whose meaning is uncertain. The Chinese Kai is its own entry, written 凯.

The next group is listed for boys and girls. Where an entry says a character is usually masculine, we kept that note in the meaning column, because it tells you which spelling reads as a boy’s name.

Some of these carry history. Behind the Name notes that Fu written 甫 was the given name of the 8th-century Tang dynasty poet Du Fu, that Wen is linked to the 2nd-century BC Emperor Wen of Han (a posthumous name), and that Heng was the personal name of that same emperor. Jun, Min and Yong are also listed with Korean usage.

Finally, a set of one-syllable names drawn from water, wood and trees:

Bai can also be written 白, the character Behind the Name notes as the given name of the 8th-century Tang dynasty poet Li Bai. For more short options from many languages, see our short boy names.

Familiar Chinese Boy Names Built on Shared Characters

Some characters turn up so often that whole families of names grow around them. Three of the most visible are 志 (zhì), “will, purpose, ambition”, 建 (jiàn), “build, establish”, and 晓 (xiǎo), “dawn”. If these names sound familiar, that is why: they share a first syllable and change only the second.

We call these names familiar, not popular, on purpose. We did not read an official ranking for China, Taiwan or anywhere else for this page, so we make no rank claims.

Zhiwei, Zhiyong and Zhihao show how flexible the pattern is. Each can open with 志 (“will, purpose, ambition”) or with 智 (“wisdom, intellect”), which is also pronounced zhì. A family can keep the sound and choose the idea.

Guohua opens with 国, “country”, and pairs it with 华, “splendid, illustrious, Chinese”. Jianhong and Jianjun also have a spelling with 健, a different character read jiàn, which the Jian entry glosses as “strong, healthy”.

Xiaohua can open with 小, “small”, instead of 晓, “dawn”, so the same spoken name has two quite different flavors.

This shared-character pattern echoes a family custom. Behind the Name explains that sometimes the first character of a given name is shared by all members of a generation in a family (siblings and cousins), which it calls a generation name, used by some Chinese and Korean families. You can see a related idea on our Korean boy names page.

Chinese Boy Names Meaning Strong, Brave, Bright or Wise

Many parents search for a Chinese name with a particular quality in mind. Because meaning sits in the characters, the honest way to do this is to look for the character first, then the names that use it. Here are the themes found in the entries on this page.

The catch is in the caption. Zhiwei only means “wisdom” when it is written 智伟; written 志伟, it is about will and purpose. Da only means “intelligent” when it is written 达; written 大, it means “big, great, vast, high”. If one quality matters most to you, make sure the characters on your child’s family records match it.

For strength-themed names from other traditions, see our strong boy names. For names tied to light and brightness in many languages, try our names that mean light list.

Boy Names From Chinese Mythology

Behind the Name files these entries under Chinese Mythology, not everyday Chinese usage. They are the names of gods, legendary rulers and mythical creatures, so many families treat them as inspiration (for a nursery theme, a bedtime story or a middle name) rather than as a first name. All are listed as masculine.

Look at how often 龙 (lóng), “dragon”, appears: Huanglong, Longwang, Qinglong and Zhulong all use it, and it is the same character as the everyday name Long. If you love the dragon idea but want a name a child can easily wear at school, Long is the practical route. Baihu and Qinglong come as a pair in the entries: the White Tiger tied to the west and autumn, and the Azure Dragon tied to the east and spring.

Two entries carry notes worth knowing. Gonggong’s meaning is listed as unknown, and per its entry a dwarf planet in the outer solar system was named for him in 2019. Huangdi, the Yellow Emperor, is described as a mythical ruler and deity said to have reigned in the 3rd millennium BC and regarded as the ancestor of the Chinese people.

Using a Chinese Name in an English-Speaking Family

Many readers are Chinese American or have family ties to China. Others simply love how a name sounds. These tips come from the sources we read and from plain experience with paperwork, not from any rule.

• Expect pinyin surprises: English speakers often stumble on a few pinyin letters. The ASU guide describes x as similar to the “sh” in “she” but with the tongue low and flat, q as that same sound with a “t” added in front, and zh as the start of “jerk” stopping before the “rk”. That covers Xun, Qiang, Zhiming and Zhulong.
• Tone marks are optional in daily life: the ASU guide notes that tones are not usually marked in alphabetic romanization, and U.S. paperwork does not always carry accents or special characters. Most families write Zhiyong, not Zhìyǒng, on English forms.
• Pick one spelling and keep it: decide whether the name is written as one word, with a hyphen (Zhi-Ming) or with a space, and use that choice everywhere.
• Record the characters: the Latin spelling cannot show which characters you chose. Write the characters on a family record so the meaning is not lost: Zihao written 子豪 and Zihao written 梓豪 are different names on paper.
• First name or middle name: a Chinese given name can sit in either slot. Many families pair an English first name with a Chinese middle name, or the reverse. Our middle names guide has more on balancing the two.
• Short names carry easily: Kai, Hao, Tao, Long, Bo and Hai read the same in English as they are spelled.

For context, none of these names is in the U.S. top 10. For boys born in 2025, the Social Security Administration lists Liam, Noah, Oliver, Theodore, Henry, James, Elijah, Mateo, William and Lucas.

How to Choose a Chinese Boy Name: Tones, Writing and Family

Choosing a Chinese name is really two choices: the sound and the characters. These steps are our advice.

• Start with family: ask relatives whether your family uses a generation name. If it does, the first character may already be chosen for you, and you only pick the second.
• Know the customs: Behind the Name notes that Chinese parents do not typically name babies after relatives or famous people. Families outside China make their own choices, but it helps to know the tradition before you suggest naming a son after his grandfather.
• Choose the characters on purpose: pick the meaning first, then confirm the characters with a fluent reader. Two names can share a pinyin spelling and carry different ideas, and for unisex names the character often decides whether the name reads as a boy’s name.
• Say it with the tones: have a Mandarin speaker say the full name with your surname. Tones change how a name sounds and can change how it lands.
• Check both scripts: if relatives read traditional characters, look at that version too. Several names on this page change shape (强 becomes 強, 龙 becomes 龍).
• Run the usual tests: say the whole name out loud with your surname, write out the initials and imagine it on a classroom roster.

If your family blends heritages, our Japanese boy names page shows how another naming tradition uses characters, and our gender neutral names list has more unisex picks.

From Betteroo: After the Name Is Chosen

Betteroo is a baby sleep resource, so here is our part. Once the name is settled and your son arrives, the first weeks are mostly about feeding, sleep and getting to know him. Our newborn sleep schedule week by week walks through what is typical as the weeks go on. However tired you are, keep sleep safe: babies under 12 months sleep alone, on their back, on a firm, flat surface with nothing else in the crib.

Related Betteroo Guides

• Chinese Girl Names
• Japanese Boy Names
• Korean Boy Names
• Short Boy Names
• Strong Boy Names
• Russian Boy Names

The Bottom Line

The best Chinese boy names are chosen twice, once for the sound and once for the characters. Shortlist a few sounds you love, look at the characters each entry gives, and remember that every meaning on this page is one example among several. Then check the characters with someone fluent, decide how the name will be spelled on paper, and write the characters down so your son can always know what his name means.

If you are also considering names used for boys and girls, you will find more on our Chinese girl names page, in the section for unisex names.

Frequently Asked Questions