Personal name
A personal name, or full name, in onomastic terminology also known as prosoponym (from Ancient Greek πρόσωπον / ''prósōpon'' - person, and ὄνομα / ''onoma'' - name), is the set of names by which an individual person is known ...
s in Hong Kong generally contain differences from those in
mainland China
"Mainland China" is a geopolitical term defined as the territory governed by the People's Republic of China (including islands like Hainan or Chongming), excluding dependent territories of the PRC, and other territories within Greater China. ...
due to the use of
Hong Kong Cantonese
Hong Kong Cantonese is a dialect of the Cantonese language of the Sino-Tibetan family.
Although Hongkongers refer to the language as "''Cantonese''" (), publications in mainland China describe the variant as ''Hong Kong dialect'' (), due t ...
language, ethnic diversity, and the presence of
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
as a second language.
An example of a Hong Kong name in English is
Joshua Wong Chi-fung
Joshua Wong Chi-fung (; born 13 October 1996) is a Hong Kong activist and politician. He served as secretary-general of the pro-democracy party Demosistō until it disbanded following the implementation of the Hong Kong national security law ...
, which uses an "English name + Hong Kong Cantonese Surname + Personal Name" format. The surname is located in the middle of the name, which may be capitalised (WONG Chi-fung). The given name may also be rendered as two words (Wong Chi Fung). According to custom, the Western-style name is in "English name + Surname" format while the Chinese-style is in "Surname + Personal name".
Surname
Generally, the Cantonese majority employ one or another
romanization of Cantonese
Cantonese ( zh, t=廣東話, s=广东话, first=t, cy=Gwóngdūng wá) is a language within the Chinese (Sinitic) branch of the Sino-Tibetan languages originating from the city of Guangzhou (historically known as Canton) and its surrounding are ...
. However, non-Cantonese immigrants may retain their hometown spelling in English. For example, use of
Shanghainese
The Shanghainese language, also known as the Shanghai dialect, or Hu language, is a variety of Wu Chinese spoken in the Districts of Shanghai, central districts of the Shanghai, City of Shanghai and its surrounding areas. It is classified as ...
romanization in names (e.g.
Joseph Zen Ze-kiun
Joseph Zen Ze-kiun SDB (, born 13 January 1932) is a cardinal of the Catholic Church from Hong Kong, who served as the sixth Bishop of Hong Kong. He was appointed cardinal in 2006, and has been outspoken on issues regarding human rights ...
) is more common in
Hong Kong English
Hong Kong English is a variety of the English language native to Hong Kong. The variant is either a learner interlanguage or emergent variant, primarily a result of Hong Kong's British overseas territory history and the influence of native ...
than in official use in
Shanghai
Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flow ...
where Mandarin-based pinyin has been in official use since the 1950s.
Given name
Chinese name
Chinese names or Chinese personal names are names used by individuals from Greater China and other parts of the Chinese-speaking world throughout East and Southeast Asia (ESEA). In addition, many names used in Japan, Korea and Vietnam are often a ...
s and sometimes
Chinese surname
Chinese surnames are used by Han Chinese and Sinicized ethnic groups in China, Taiwan, Korea, Vietnam, and among overseas Chinese communities around the world such as Singapore and Malaysia. Written Chinese names begin with surnames, unlike the ...
s in Hong Kong may be supplemented by or replaced by an English name when using English. The use of English names in Hong Kong is not well researched or documented. English names in Hong Kong can use various proper names and nouns that are not often found in the
Western world
The Western world, also known as the West, primarily refers to the various nations and state (polity), states in the regions of Europe, North America, and Oceania. , with some examples being
Rimsky Yuen
Rimsky Yuen Kwok-keung (; born 17 June 1964) is a barrister who served as the third Secretary for Justice of Hong Kong from 2012 to 2018.
He was the chairman of the Hong Kong Bar Association from 2007 to 2010, as well as a member of the Guang ...
,
York Chow
York Chow Yat-ngok (; born 1947, Hong Kong), GBS, SBS, MBE, was the Secretary for Food and Health of Hong Kong and a member of the Executive Council. He was appointed as Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food in 2004. The position has sinc ...
, and
Moses Chan
Moses Chan Ho (born 16 April 1971) is an actor from Hong Kong.
Career and personal life
Chan lived and studied in Australia (Melbourne, Brisbane, and Sydney) for 10 years prior to returning to Hong Kong to embark on his acting career. On 17 Nov ...
. Inspiration for English names in Hong Kong can come from the names of months, sports brands, and luxury labels. More conventional English names can undergo distortion by the adding, substitution, or deletion of letters (e.g. Sonija, Garbie, Kith), as well using suffixes like ''-son'' (e.g. Rayson). Others adopt a Western name that sounds similar phonetically to their Chinese name, such as
Hacken Lee
Lee Hak Kan (; born 6 December 1967), better known as Hacken Lee, is a Hong Kong singer, television host and actor, active from the 1980s until today. In 2013, Lee's song "House of Cards" swept multiple awards in many Hong Kong award ceremonies, in ...
from Lee Hak-kan ().
These categories (addition, substitution, phonetic-based, etc.) are the fundamental ways of generating creative Hong Kong names.
Maiden name
Maiden name
When a person (traditionally the wife in many cultures) assumes the family name of their spouse, in some countries that name replaces the person's previous surname, which in the case of the wife is called the maiden name ("birth name" is also used ...
s are usually placed after the surname of the spouse: for instance, the 4th Chief Executive of Hong Kong
Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor
Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor ( Cheng; ; born 13 May 1957) is a retired Hong Kong politician who served as the 4th Chief Executive of Hong Kong from 2017 to 2022. She served as Chief Secretary for Administration between 2012 and 2017 and Secr ...
has Carrie and Yuet-ngor as the English and Cantonese personal names respectively, Cheng as the maiden name, and Lam from the surname of her husband
Lam Siu-por
Lam Siu-por ( zh, t=林兆波, j=Lam4 Siu6 Bo1; born 28 March 1954) is a Hong Kong mathematician and the husband of Carrie Lam, who served as the fourth Chief Executive of Hong Kong from 2017 to 2022.
Career
Lam earned his doctorate in algebra ...
. In the Western world, married women are usually referred by "first name + married name" style, which is Carrie Lam in the example above, while locally as "married name + maiden name + personal name" style.
See also
*
*
Hongkongers
Hongkongers (), also known as Hong Kongers, Hong Kongese, Hongkongese, Hong Kong citizens and Hong Kong people, typically refers to residents of the territory of Hong Kong; although may also refer to others who were born and/or raised in the ...
*
Culture of Hong Kong
The culture of Hong Kong is primarily a mix of Chinese and Western influences, stemming from Lingnan Cantonese roots and later fusing with British culture due to British colonialism (Jyutping: ; Traditional Chinese: 粵英薈萃). As an internat ...
*
References
{{Names in world cultures
Names by culture
Hong Kong