“Laobaixing” is a Chinese colloquial term for “the masses.” It literally means “hundred old names.” It is estimated that 85% of China’s 1.3 billion citizens share 100 surnames.
Remember Fedex’s commercial “Na Ge Zhang?”
Well, that is just in the TV world. In reality, imagine the un-uniqueness of the Chinese names. Well, some of them.
Credit: Shiho Fukada for The New York Times
Twenty-six year-old Ma Cheng does not have any qualms with her name. Her grandfather gave her a name that is very distinguishable that when people see the characters, they immediately will think of Ma Cheng.
Too unique in fact.
The Chinese government’s Public Security Bureau has started replacing the handwritten identity cards of its citizens with computerized versions. The problem is, the computer pinyin system itself is limited; and the name of Ma Cheng (specifically the Cheng) is not on the list.
The officials’ solution? Change it!
Source: The New York Times
This is actually in contrast to the ministry’s previous draft regulation seeking the double-surname option which combines the names of the father and mother as solution to the names shortage.
If someone tells you to change your name, would you agree to it? The answer is fairly obvious.
What do you think is a better option?
I have always thought that Chinese had more combinations for names when compared to using the ABC’s. What, 26 letters to how many characters? But this quandary is giving me second thoughts.
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Valerie Blanco and Ellen Feberwee, both Dutch, have compiled an impressive book sharing the stories and reasons behind the names Chinese people give themselves. How does one explain “Creamy?”
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Mr. 0 is the latest to run afoul of the Chinese ID card regulators. If he doesn’t change his surname, he may have to settle for a black square for a last name.
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More arguments & notable recent events concerning the on-going debate over complex (fanti) and simplified (jianti) Chinese characters. Is coexistence possible?
“In China, My name is…”: Chinese People & English Names 
China Rules, There’s No 0 In The “Old-100-Names” 
Political Smack Between Jianti And Fanti Chinese Characters 
奇怪！
我从来没看过那个cheng。 google 也不找到那个字！
Me too! Actually, this reminds me of a word I saw in Xian. I took a photo of it thinking it looked rather beautiful. I’m going to browse my archives now.
There’s nothing weird with this name at all, coz from what I heard Chinese has more than 10,000 characters. But commonly, they only use half of it and 3,000 out of it is regularly being used. So if there are some words that are missing on computer database, its a common occurence:)
Chinese language is just so amazing isn’t it?
It really is! So many things to discover from it still. Thanks for you comment!
我父亲是学文的， 连他也从来没听说过“马马马” 的单字