GOD THATS A TOUGH ONE DUDDE....

My Chinese is also very rudimentary AND Rusty – but this is what I remember…..

Translating an English name into Chinese can be tricky.

It is not like translating “Mary” to “Maria” or “Pedro” to “Peter”.

European languages share common sources so names generally translate well.

Not being European in origin, Chinese is quite different and there is two main ways I know of to “Chinese-fy” a name (I just made that term up). You will not find a direct translation for names so you either use the sound or what the European name means.

If a woman called “Rose” or ”Lily” – you would look at how these objects were said in Chinese. She might simply assume the word for “Rose” as her Chinese name – assuming there were no negative connotations in either the sound or the characters used to express them. Different Characters represent the same sounds – so you would probably pick characters you liked the deeper meaning of to translate your name. This is true if you were trying this method or the other I know of – which is trying to make the name as it is spoken and sounds in the source language sound Chinese. Hence you often meet woman called “Shaorong” in Chinese using the English name “Sharon” and vice versa. Peter is a good example. Students called Peter in a Chinese langue class will get called Bida – which sounds a bit like Peter. For common names in English (and probably other European languages – there are accepted “translations” into Chinese but these are not direct and “translation” is a poor description. They are only “Chineseafied” to use the word I made up when I started writing to you..

If “Shaorong”, whose characters means “small tree” if memory serves me right – she might go for the English name “Maple” to try and preserve meaning in the translation.

My English name is “Damien” and it was translated to “Danian” by a Chinese friend. Bit of a joke as “Danian” is a monster who happens to be written in very simple characters for “big” and “year” which are some of the first you might learn to write when learning Chinese (this was my experience). I like the name and it is what people know me as -so I stuck with it. It is also very easy for me to write!

If your name was “Mr Big” – then you might use “Da” which is the written English way of representing the idea “big” in mandarin. It is also an easy character to write for us slow white folk. If your name is Mr Lee – then it is easy as the sound “Lee” in English is very closed to “Li” in Chinese. Li is obviously one of the most common last names in Chinese. Hence “Lee’s” Laundry, Restaurant, Bank, Importers etc etc for businesses run by Chinese in English speaking lands

As for “Alexa” – you would need to speak to a native speaker – but be prepared to know what “Alexa” means as you might find they could make a cool name out of it for you. Don’t forget your middle name. Chinese first names with one syllable are not the norm – so “Fred” would normally get broken into 2 syllables and your second name might work in Chinese (either spoken and/or written) a hell of a lot better than your first. My middle name is Leo – so you might use word for “Lion” in Chinese. B

“Alexa” will get broken into 3 syllables in Chinese like “A-Le-xa” but I have no idea what this means (if anything – and these sound are more likely mean many things than nothing at all) My Chinese Dictionary is in storage – so you are out of luck, sorry. I have also never met a Chinese person with a 3 syllable name – but I have never been to China (poor me). Have a think about your middle name (assuming you have one) and if you would use that.

If you’re serious about this and willing to go to effort – head off and find a native speaker and have another native speaker check their idea. Try a local Chinese business or a University and any other place you can think of. See where you can learn Chinese and give them a call about your name. “Chinese” also obviously covers many languages – but I would pick a sound in Mandarin or Cantonese – the characters used are the same so a Chinese person may not understand what another Chinese person is saying if they are using two different languages from China (it’s a bloody big place) – but they will understand each others writing. If you want to know how to write your name in Chinese characters (and that’s the ony way it will have real meaning) it wont really mater which language you use…

I have not really answered your question – but hopefully you know more than when you asked it.

Cheers
Damien
AKA "Danian"

I think maybe a Chinese guy can help you to find out how to write your name in Chinese~
or if I translate your name and write here, can the web read it? Maybe the first charactor of your name is "艾", the second one maybe "力"。。。
Are you interested in Chinese or China? Well i'll recommend this website to you,
www.foreignercn.com, which is designed especially for foreigners in China and you will find useful and special information there! Welcome!

ok what can i do for u ^ ^ i am chinese