<p>Both 'Professor <strong>Liu</strong> Yuxin' and 'Professor Yuxin  <strong>Liu</strong>' are acceptable (apply the first name first or the last name first format depend on the audience). To be safe, just highlight the family name with an underline or bold fond.</p>
<p>It is easier just use the last name 刘教授 (Professor Liu)</p>
<p><em>You can call your professor 刘雨欣教授 or 刘教授 in Chinese but you cannot call her 雨欣.刘 教授 (apply the English first name first format directly into an all Chinese name)</em></p>
<p>Edit: capitalize the last name also work</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-03-20T11:25:23.353Z
Unfortunately, her whole name should be underlined and in bold so I can't change it. But if it makes no difference as you said, I will go with Prof. Yuxin Liu.
selubamih
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-03-20T11:13:40.753Z
2021-03-20T11:39:36.930Z
2021-03-20T11:39:36.930Z
Tang Ho
<ol>
<li><p>Just to supplement, you may ask if your professor has a specific preference / or is famously known for her name in the Western or Chinese order. Consider Lee Kwan Yew (李光耀), but Yo Yo Ma (馬友友).</p>
</li>
<li><p>There may also be a good justification to adopt the Western order, especially if your professor's work needs to be cited in her surname. E.g., Yitang Zhang (張益唐) is a mathematician who developed groundbreaking work in the field of number theory, but there were subsequent improvements on his work. The academic field may therefore need to use the Western order for its members to unambiguously and correctly cite his work as Zhang's work.</p>
</li>
</ol>
<p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_name#In_English" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Wikipedia</a> concludes several rules of thumb which you may find useful.</p>
<p>Besides Tang Ho's suggestion, you may also capitalise the surname, as in 'Yuxin LIU', but that may be unnecessary.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-03-20T11:35:23.267Z
For an unknown person like me, it really depends on the audience. I was in Hong Kong,  applying for an ID, I wrote my name in English (first name first ) order as Tang Kai Ho. The officer thought my last name was Tang and called me 鄧繼豪先生 which was her educated guess for a typical Hong Kong Chinese who named 'Tang Kai Ho'-- Not a single character was correct
Tang Ho
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-03-20T11:37:45.743Z
Thanks for your clear explanation. Actually, before I sent an email with Dear Prof. LIU Yuxin, but in this document, all other names are in initial capital format.
selubamih
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-03-20T11:42:47.253Z
@TangHo that is rather unfortunate. That's why I prefer adding a comma after my surname when filling out forms that don't separate first names and surnames.
L Parker
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-03-20T11:27:15.477Z
2021-03-20T11:43:59.530Z
2021-03-20T11:43:59.530Z
L Parker
<p>I really don't know Chinese but I just started to study in China online. I am preparing a report and I need to mention my professor's name. In Chinese it's written as 刘雨欣(liuyuxin), this means 刘(liu) is her surname. Should I write Professor Liu Yuxin or Professor Yuxin Liu?</p>

<surnames><academic>
How should I mention my Chinese professor in a document?
# How should I mention my Chinese professor in a document?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2021-03-20)

I really don't know Chinese but I just started to study in China online. I am preparing a report and I need to mention my professor's name. In Chinese it's written as 刘雨欣(liuyuxin), this means 刘(liu) is her surname. Should I write Professor Liu Yuxin or Professor Yuxin Liu?

**Tags:** surnames, academic


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## 2 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2021-03-20. Score: 2 | Accepted answer

Both 'Professor **Liu** Yuxin' and 'Professor Yuxin **Liu**' are acceptable (apply the first name first or the last name first format depend on the audience). To be safe, just highlight the family name with an underline or bold fond.

It is easier just use the last name 刘教授 (Professor Liu)

*You can call your professor 刘雨欣教授 or 刘教授 in Chinese but you cannot call her 雨欣.刘 教授 (apply the English first name first format directly into an all Chinese name)*

Edit: capitalize the last name also work

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: Unfortunately, her whole name should be underlined and in bold so I can't change it. But if it makes no difference as you said, I will go with Prof. Yuxin Liu.  

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### Answer by username_2 on 2021-03-20. Score: 0

1. Just to supplement, you may ask if your professor has a specific preference / or is famously known for her name in the Western or Chinese order. Consider Lee Kwan Yew (李光耀), but Yo Yo Ma (馬友友).
2. There may also be a good justification to adopt the Western order, especially if your professor's work needs to be cited in her surname. E.g., Yitang Zhang (張益唐) is a mathematician who developed groundbreaking work in the field of number theory, but there were subsequent improvements on his work. The academic field may therefore need to use the Western order for its members to unambiguously and correctly cite his work as Zhang's work.

[Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_name#In_English) concludes several rules of thumb which you may find useful.

Besides username_1 Ho's suggestion, you may also capitalise the surname, as in 'Yuxin LIU', but that may be unnecessary.

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: For an unknown person like me, it really depends on the audience. I was in Hong Kong,  applying for an ID, I wrote my name in English (first name first ) order as username_1 Kai Ho. The officer thought my last name was username_1 and called me 鄧繼豪先生 which was her educated guess for a typical Hong Kong Chinese who named 'username_1 Kai Ho'-- Not a single character was correct  
> **username_0**: Thanks for your clear explanation. Actually, before I sent an email with Dear Prof. LIU Yuxin, but in this document, all other names are in initial capital format.  
> **username_2**: @username_1 that is rather unfortunate. That's why I prefer adding a comma after my surname when filling out forms that don't separate first names and surnames.  

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