Chinese names

[Dewayne]

It just dawned upon me when helping my finance filling out forms that they ask for middle names, how has everyone else filled this out?

 

What if your fiance or wife never had a English name and decided to get one? I've heard from co-workers that if there is a name change after coming to the US, you're required to pay a couple hundred bucks to do a name change...unlike a few years ago when it didn't cost a penny to change.

[IllinoisDave]

It just dawned upon me when helping my finance filling out forms that they ask for middle names, how has everyone else filled this out?

We just left it blank.

[Guest Rob & Jin]

It just dawned upon me when helping my finance filling out forms that they ask for middle names, how has everyone else filled this out?

We just left it blank.

 

we filled them in the same as her name appears in all her chinese docs, ie her first and middle names together, no seperate middle name, Jin became JinCui. This is how her name appers on her passport , birth certificate etc, so seemed to make sense.

Hope that helps

[tywy_99]

It just dawned upon me when helping my finance filling out forms that they ask for middle names, how has everyone else filled this out?

We just left it blank.

Agreed.

[david_dawei]

we've had our past debates about this...

 

but it really depends on how she wants it read... we went with the same as R&J said, but only the first letter was capital.

 

The basic options appear to be:

Chinese given name & Last name in Pinyin: Zi Mei Wang

 

1) Zi Wang

2) Zi M. Wang

3) Zimei Wang

4) Zi-Mei Wang

 

You also could consider if she'll change her last name and want to shift her surname into the middle position anyway...

 

Again, my wife uses option #3 above... but tends to give an 'english' name when meeting people...

[Dewayne]

Thanks, I did leave it blank while filling out the I129, but never really gave it a thought. I guess simplicity is the way to go, less complications.

 

thank you all.

[ed and ying]

For what it is worth, we have been consistent throught the whole process. On I-129F, etc. - Ying's middle name was always (NONE). I figured the () would clue anyone that it was not a name. After we married Ying uses the same first name, Yingxia. with my family name. Her middle name is still (NONE). It does not show up on her DL,GC, etc

Edited August 23, 2007 by ed and ying (see edit history)

[jim_julian]

Guys, guys, guys ... no one in China has a middle name.

 

There is a family name and a given name.

 

In Chinese the name starts with the family name and then the given name follows. Given names are one or two characters (some Tibetan Chinese may have 3 character given names).

 

Just because a given name has two characters it does not mean that one is the first name and one is the middle name.

 

It is best to follow the PRC government convention which is, when expressing a two character name in pinyin, for example a lady with a given name of Xuejing has two Chinese characters for her given name but in pinyin, in her passport it is Xuejing ... not Xue Jing.

 

Sooooooooo ... middle names on US forms should be balnk.

 

Given names should be expressed as one pinyin word.

[jwmurphy]

The name should be the same name in her passport.

 

Jeff

 

It just dawned upon me when helping my finance filling out forms that they ask for middle names, how has everyone else filled this out?

 

What if your fiance or wife never had a English name and decided to get one? I've heard from co-workers that if there is a name change after coming to the US, you're required to pay a couple hundred bucks to do a name change...unlike a few years ago when it didn't cost a penny to change.

[Guest ShaQuaNew]

While leaving a field blank on a form is an alternative, many agree it's just not a good idea of standard practice. You really should put something in every field even if it doensn't pertain to you. Yep, Chinese people don't have middle names, so a standard protocol for someone not having a middle name is to enter:

 

"NMN"

(no middle name)

 

Sure, it may fly without it, but many of the people entering your information may not know that.

 

For other fields:

 

"NA" notice the lack of a slash or periods

 

Use when the question or field does not apply.

 

"NONE"

 

Use for questions requesting a numeric value or some sort of substantiation; e.g., Enter the number of children under 12 in the household; "NONE"

[tywy_99]

The name should be the same name in her passport.

 

Jeff

 

This is the best advice yet.

[david_dawei]

The name should be the same name in her passport.

 

Jeff

 

This is the best advice yet.

Except how many have a passport prior to the initial filing?

 

The key is consistency throughout the process.. and if you don't have a passport, to have the passport reflect what you put on the form.

 

My option #3 is the most straightfoward, preserves the two characters and leaves the middle open for the future and as Jim points out, is usually how the passport is done anyway.

 

And I agree to put something in the middle name instead of leaving blank... but here is what the instructions say:

"Answer all questions fully and accurately. State that an item is not applicable with "N/A." If the answer is"none," write none."

Edited August 23, 2007 by DavidZixuan (see edit history)

[SirLancelot]

I hate having to disagree with what Jim writes because he knows his stuff and I generally agree with what he says. But some of the statements made below isn't quite correct.

 

I'd take exception to the statement "No one in China has a middle name."

 

What exactly is a middle name anyway?

 

In international usage, there's really no such thing as a "middle name". There's Surname and Given Name.

 

If one is named Glen Allen Watson then the international convention is:

 

Surname: Watson

Given Name: Glen Allen

 

So what would make one say WANG, Xiao Ling doesn't have a middle name?

 

Additionally, the Chinese government has changed their convention in how they romanize pinyin names. In the past, I have personally seen Chinese passports where the two character Given Name was not mushed together. Example, previously passports were issued as:

 

Surname: Wang

Given Name: Xiao Ling

 

Where as now a days, the Chinese issues passports with this convention:

 

Surname: Wang

Given Name: Xioaling

 

I would argue that indeed Chinese people have middle names, as much as Americans or Europeans have middle names, but the Chinese actually will use the middle name (middle character) along with their first name in general use as Given Name.

 

I will end by saying that Jim is correct that current Chinese government convention is to push the two characters together as Given Name on the passport, but that was not the case before.

 

And I will also concede that for the purpose of a middle name designation in the US, it is different from the Chinese middle character. Most people in the US don't go around referring to their Given Name as both their first and middle name, whereas the Chinese people will indeed refer to themselves with a Given Name which includes both their first and second character. Some Chinese people only have one character Given Names. e.g. WANG, Ling as compared to WANG, Xioa Ling

 

In the past, Chinese immigrants have often hyphenized their names upon arriving to the US because they didn't want to put their middle name (character) into the middle name fields generally used in the US.

 

That is to say:

 

WANG, Xiao Ling became Xiao-Ling Wang, not Xiaoling Wang.

 

Personally I don't like this new convention the Chinese government has been using. But it is the standard convention now. It was not the case before.

 

Guys, guys, guys ... no one in China has a middle name.

 

There is a family name and a given name.

 

In Chinese the name starts with the family name and then the given name follows. Given names are one or two characters (some Tibetan Chinese may have 3 character given names).

 

Just because a given name has two characters it does not mean that one is the first name and one is the middle name.

 

It is best to follow the PRC government convention which is, when expressing a two character name in pinyin, for example a lady with a given name of Xuejing has two Chinese characters for her given name but in pinyin, in her passport it is Xuejing ... not Xue Jing.

 

Sooooooooo ... middle names on US forms should be balnk.

 

Given names should be expressed as one pinyin word.

 

 

 

And I agree to put something in the middle name instead of leaving blank... but here is what the instructions say:

"Answer all questions fully and accurately. State that an item is not applicable with "N/A." If the answer is"none," write none."

 

We specifically used "*NONE*" instead of "NONE" when filling out the middle name field because we didn't want some dumbass to actually enter "NONE" as my wife's middle name.

Edited August 24, 2007 by SirLancelot (see edit history)

[chilton747]

I put N/A for the middle name.

[Guest ShaQuaNew]

The name should be the same name in her passport.

 

Jeff

 

This is the best advice yet.

Except how many have a passport prior to the initial filing?

 

The key is consistency throughout the process.. and if you don't have a passport, to have the passport reflect what you put on the form.

 

My option #3 is the most straightfoward, preserves the two characters and leaves the middle open for the future and as Jim points out, is usually how the passport is done anyway.

 

And I agree to put something in the middle name instead of leaving blank... but here is what the instructions say:

"Answer all questions fully and accurately. State that an item is not applicable with "N/A." If the answer is"none," write none."

 

Reading and following the instructions is always the best advice.

 

I disagree with advising anyone suggesting leaving a field blank. Picture the data keypunch person, who may or may not be a high school graduate, whose job it is to enter information all day long from these forms. They come across a blank field for a middle name, or any other blank field and you're taking a huge chance on what they choose to enter in the system.