<p>Although this answer may be voted down, I have to say it depends on what system you use.</p>

<p>In regions using Chinese, people usually use surname-name style because of tradition.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-06-09T04:50:43.280Z
ps It really depends on what system you use. Sometimes, people use uppercase letters to write surnames.
Kiddy
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-06-09T04:48:09.250Z
2014-06-09T04:48:09.250Z
Kiddy
<p>I think all translations are based on the pronunciations, both Chinese and Japanese. There are some letters such as "x", "q" or "zh" in Chinese that western people cannot pronounce which makes you think that it is pretty awkward. I understand that. I have same problem with people from European or Latino American. However, Japanese is really not a good example here. Take your example for instance,  黒澤明 in Japan is not pronounced as hei ze ming, but as Akira Kurosawa. 黒澤明 is just the Chinese characters of his name. It is still basically pronunciation translation. More interestingly, it is not really pronounced as what you thought in English way.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-06-15T09:33:50.247Z
noname, please fix your answer in order to address the question properly, thanks. :)
Alenanno
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-06-10T18:56:23.863Z
2014-06-10T18:56:23.863Z
noname
<p>In Japan, there is very little situation when people use their full name together. If two are not quite close, they tend to just use the family name. When two are very close, they tend to use the first name. So the order doesn't matter and so they translate the name to a Western way. </p>

<p>But in China, in most situation, people use their family name and first name together. So they translation followed the way it original be </p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-06-10T16:06:39.890Z
2014-06-10T16:06:39.890Z
Archeosudoerus
<p>Is there any official way to translate Chinese names into English?</p>

<p>Chinese is of course: surname + name, usually when translated into English why is the same formatting kept?</p>

<p>毛泽东 is usually written Mao Zedong </p>

<p>But is this not more like not translating?</p>

<p>Take Japanese name translation for instance a name like 黒澤明 (Chinese: 黑泽明/黑澤明) Wikipedia translates his name (English-style) as Akira Kurosawa (first name + last name) but the original japaneae is last name (黒澤) + name (明). I know a lot of other translates still translate Japnese style (surname+name) in English too, especially dictionaries and the like but it seems English-style translations of Japebese names is more prevalent.</p>

<p>I seldom see English-style translations of Chinese names - but why?</p>

<p>Wouldn't English-style translations of Chinese names be more natural to read in English, especially for those with no background in Sinetic languages? </p>

<p>Is there an official way to translate names, i.e.: order? </p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-06-09T14:48:41.107Z
@Maroon what about like novels and stuff? I read a translated novel where it was still very chinglish Zhang Xiaoming-type-ish stuff...makes it very unnatural for an English read
Mou某
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-06-10T16:50:04.673Z
Names are names. It's not like you'd be translating 毛泽东 into Hair Favor East; how is keeping the order "not translating"? The only important bit is that people understand who you are referring to. Mucking around with the order is quite unnecessary. When it comes to historical characters, Japanese names are usually translated as surname first too. 源義経 is virtually always rendered as [Minamoto no Yoshitsune](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minamoto_no_Yoshitsune), for example.
Semaphore
<translation><names><politeness>
Is there any official way to translate Chinese names into English?
# Is there any official way to translate Chinese names into English?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2014-06-09)

Is there any official way to translate Chinese names into English?

Chinese is of course: surname + name, usually when translated into English why is the same formatting kept?

毛泽东 is usually written Mao Zedong

But is this not more like not translating?

Take Japanese name translation for instance a name like 黒澤明 (Chinese: 黑泽明/黑澤明) Wikipedia translates his name (English-style) as Akira Kurosawa (first name + last name) but the original japaneae is last name (黒澤) + name (明). I know a lot of other translates still translate Japnese style (surname+name) in English too, especially dictionaries and the like but it seems English-style translations of Japebese names is more prevalent.

I seldom see English-style translations of Chinese names - but why?

Wouldn't English-style translations of Chinese names be more natural to read in English, especially for those with no background in Sinetic languages?

Is there an official way to translate names, i.e.: order?

**Tags:** translation, names, politeness

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: @Maroon what about like novels and stuff? I read a translated novel where it was still very chinglish Zhang Xiaoming-type-ish stuff...makes it very unnatural for an English read  
> **username_1**: Names are names. It's not like you'd be translating 毛泽东 into Hair Favor East; how is keeping the order "not translating"? The only important bit is that people understand who you are referring to. Mucking around with the order is quite unnecessary. When it comes to historical characters, Japanese names are usually translated as surname first too. 源義経 is virtually always rendered as [Minamoto no Yoshitsune](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minamoto_no_Yoshitsune), for example.  

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## 3 answers

### Answer by username_2 on 2014-06-09. Score: 1

Although this answer may be voted down, I have to say it depends on what system you use.

In regions using Chinese, people usually use surname-name style because of tradition.

> **Comments:**
> **username_2**: ps It really depends on what system you use. Sometimes, people use uppercase letters to write surnames.  

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### Answer by username_3 on 2014-06-10. Score: 0

I think all translations are based on the pronunciations, both Chinese and Japanese. There are some letters such as "x", "q" or "zh" in Chinese that western people cannot pronounce which makes you think that it is pretty awkward. I understand that. I have same problem with people from European or Latino American. However, Japanese is really not a good example here. Take your example for instance, 黒澤明 in Japan is not pronounced as hei ze ming, but as Akira Kurosawa. 黒澤明 is just the Chinese characters of his name. It is still basically pronunciation translation. More interestingly, it is not really pronounced as what you thought in English way.

> **Comments:**
> **username_4**: username_3, please fix your answer in order to address the question properly, thanks. :)  

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### Answer by username_5 on 2014-06-10. Score: 0

In Japan, there is very little situation when people use their full name together. If two are not quite close, they tend to just use the family name. When two are very close, they tend to use the first name. So the order doesn't matter and so they translate the name to a Western way.

But in China, in most situation, people use their family name and first name together. So they translation followed the way it original be


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