Meaning
name; (measure word for persons); place (e.g. among winners)
Chinese: 名字、名声。
Hear the Four Tones
The same syllable “ming” becomes a different word in each tone. 名 is the 2nd tone. Tap any tone to hear a native voice and see its pitch shape.
Stroke Order
Tap Animate to watch the strokes in order, or Practice to trace it yourself.
Common Words
- 名字míng ziname (of a person or thing)
- 有名yǒu míngfamous; well-known
- 名单míng dānlist of names
- 报名bào míngto sign up; to enter one's name; to apply; to register
- 名称míng chēngname (of a thing); name (of an organization)
Example Sentence
请在这里写下你的名字。Qǐng zài zhè lǐ xiě xià nǐ de míng zi.Please write your name here.
请Qǐngto ask在zàiat这里zhè lǐhere写下xiě xiàto write down你nǐyou的deof名字míng ziname (of a person or thing。
Go deeper
Where this character comes from
夕 (evening) over 口 (mouth): in the dark of evening, when faces can’t be seen, you call out who you are. It means ‘name’.
A way to remember it
Calling out (口) in the dark (夕) — your name.
Easy to confuse with
- 多‘Many’: two 夕 stacked, not 夕 over 口.