<blockquote>
  <p>So I wonder, are there readings exclusive for a name without any preceding usage (meaningless/not used in historical names)?</p>
</blockquote>

<p>I think it is very unlikely to have a reading in a name with no meaning at all.</p>

<p>Take a look at the character 樂</p>

<p>The pinyin of 樂 in 快樂 (happy) is /le4/ ; in 音樂 (music) and surname, is /yue4/ </p>

<p>Which mean when reading 樂 in a surname, it is different from the 樂 in 快樂, but is the same as the 樂 in 音樂.</p>

<p>As a surname 樂 also has a second pinyin /yao4/. (It means 'to love; be fond of; to delight in') <a href="https://kknews.cc/history/kr5rzq.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer">樂進</a> /yao4  jin4/ is an example.</p>

<p>Although the /yao4/ pinyin can only be seen in classical text nowadays. For example:'仁者樂山，智者樂水', we can't say 樂/yao4/ in 樂進 has no preceding usage.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-06-28T19:31:43.417Z
2017-06-28T19:50:26.953Z
2017-06-28T19:50:26.953Z
Tang Ho
<p>There are some family names which are pronounced quite differently compared to normal usage. For example:</p>
<ul>
<li>华：usually: hua2, family name: hua4</li>
<li>仇：usually: chou2, family name: qiu2</li>
<li>单：usually: dan1, family name: shan4</li>
<li>任：usually: ren4, family name: ren2</li>
<li>纪：usually: ji4, family name: ji3</li>
<li>解: usually: jie3, family name: xie4</li>
<li>查：usually: cha2, family name: zha1</li>
<li>区：usually: qu1, family name: ou1</li>
<li>尉迟：usually: wei4, chi2, family name: yu4 chi2</li>
<li>万俟：usually: wan4, si4, family name: mo4 qi2</li>
</ul>
<p>Some of the pronunciations above are indeed exclusively to family names, but they are pronounced so with a reason. For example, however, I believe these pronunciation all have historical reasons, either a place, or 四声别义, or another character.</p>
<p>Besides, I think 名乗り(nanori) in Japanese also have a reason and not exclusively for names without other meaning. For example, 希 in female names reads nozomi, it's actually 訓読み(kunyomi) of 望, which has a similar meaning as 希. And ii is the classic form (雅語) of meshi for 飯. Therefore, the basis where your extension based on is also unstable.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2017-06-29T14:03:47.717Z
2021-03-27T17:08:42.777Z
2021-03-27T17:08:42.777Z
Harry Summer
<p>When reading <a href="https://chinese.stackexchange.com/a/24282/7033">songyuanyao's answer</a> on <a href="https://chinese.stackexchange.com/q/24278/7033">Are people names always pronounced the same in Mandarin?</a>, I suddenly wonder if Chinese has something similar to <em>nanori</em> in Japanese.</p>

<p>Basically, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nanori" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><em>nanori</a></em> is a special reading for a Japanese Kanji used in a name. Examples according to Wikipedia:</p>

<blockquote>
  <ul>
  <li><p>希 usually has the pronunciation <em>ki</em> (or sometimes <em>ke</em> or <em>mare</em>). However, as a female name it can be pronounced <em>Nozomi</em>.</p></li>
  <li><p>飯田 (<em>Iida</em>) uses the special <em>nanori</em> reading of 飯 (<em>ii</em>) and a standard <em>kun'yomi</em> reading of 田 (<em>da</em>)</p></li>
  </ul>
</blockquote>

<p>Now, taking the first example from songyuanyao's answer, for Hanzi 費, <a href="https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%E8%B2%BB" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Wiktionary</a> stated,</p>

<blockquote>
  <ul>
  <li><em>fèi</em> with 6 meanings + 2 historical placenames + surname</li>
  <li><em>bì</em> with 1 historical placename + surname</li>
  </ul>
</blockquote>

<p>Taking from this example, I concluded that it's used as a surname since it's preceded by a place name.</p>

<p>So I wonder, are there readings exclusive for a name without any preceding usage (meaningless/not used in historical names)?</p>

<mandarin><names>
Are there readings exclusive used only for people name?
# Are there readings exclusive used only for people name?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2017-06-28)

When reading [songyuanyao's answer](https://chinese.stackexchange.com/a/24282/7033) on [Are people names always pronounced the same in Mandarin?](https://chinese.stackexchange.com/q/24278/7033), I suddenly wonder if Chinese has something similar to *nanori* in Japanese.

Basically, [*nanori*](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nanori) is a special reading for a Japanese Kanji used in a name. Examples according to Wikipedia:

> * 希 usually has the pronunciation *ki* (or sometimes *ke* or *mare*). However, as a female name it can be pronounced *Nozomi*.
> * 飯田 (*Iida*) uses the special *nanori* reading of 飯 (*ii*) and a standard *kun'yomi* reading of 田 (*da*)

Now, taking the first example from songyuanyao's answer, for Hanzi 費, [Wiktionary](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%E8%B2%BB) stated,

> * *fèi* with 6 meanings + 2 historical placenames + surname
> * *bì* with 1 historical placename + surname

Taking from this example, I concluded that it's used as a surname since it's preceded by a place name.

So I wonder, are there readings exclusive for a name without any preceding usage (meaningless/not used in historical names)?

**Tags:** mandarin, names


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## 2 answers

### Answer by username_2 on 2017-06-29. Score: 3 | Accepted answer

There are some family names which are pronounced quite differently compared to normal usage. For example:

* 华：usually: hua2, family name: hua4
* 仇：usually: chou2, family name: qiu2
* 单：usually: dan1, family name: shan4
* 任：usually: ren4, family name: ren2
* 纪：usually: ji4, family name: ji3
* 解: usually: jie3, family name: xie4
* 查：usually: cha2, family name: zha1
* 区：usually: qu1, family name: ou1
* 尉迟：usually: wei4, chi2, family name: yu4 chi2
* 万俟：usually: wan4, si4, family name: mo4 qi2

Some of the pronunciations above are indeed exclusively to family names, but they are pronounced so with a reason. For example, however, I believe these pronunciation all have historical reasons, either a place, or 四声别义, or another character.

Besides, I think 名乗り(nanori) in Japanese also have a reason and not exclusively for names without other meaning. For example, 希 in female names reads nozomi, it's actually 訓読み(kunyomi) of 望, which has a similar meaning as 希. And ii is the classic form (雅語) of meshi for 飯. Therefore, the basis where your extension based on is also unstable.


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### Answer by username_1 on 2017-06-28. Score: 5

> So I wonder, are there readings exclusive for a name without any preceding usage (meaningless/not used in historical names)?

I think it is very unlikely to have a reading in a name with no meaning at all.

Take a look at the character 樂

The pinyin of 樂 in 快樂 (happy) is /le4/ ; in 音樂 (music) and surname, is /yue4/

Which mean when reading 樂 in a surname, it is different from the 樂 in 快樂, but is the same as the 樂 in 音樂.

As a surname 樂 also has a second pinyin /yao4/. (It means 'to love; be fond of; to delight in') [樂進](https://kknews.cc/history/kr5rzq.html) /yao4 jin4/ is an example.

Although the /yao4/ pinyin can only be seen in classical text nowadays. For example:'仁者樂山，智者樂水', we can't say 樂/yao4/ in 樂進 has no preceding usage.


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