SHANGHAI: Like people elsewhere in the world, Chinese people often have nicknames in addition to their official names. Some of these may surprise people from other cultures because they sound humble or even unflattering.
Chinese parents have traditionally given their children humble, sometimes vulgar, nicknames – occasionally using animal names such as “Dog” or “Pig.” The practice dates back to ancient times.
Parents believed that the humbler a nickname sounded, the better, as it might help ensure their child grew up healthy.
This practice was a desperate measure in ancient times, when medical technology was limited and people’s average lifespans were short.
As a result, many families – from ordinary households to the imperial family – gave their children animal-related names, hoping they would be as healthy and resilient as animals believed to have strong vitality.
Ouyang Xiu, a literary giant of the Northern Song dynasty (960–1127), wrote in his book Dao Shan Qing Hua that families who wanted their children to grow up easily often chose humble words for their names.
Examples include gou sheng (food left over by dogs), gou dan (dog and egg), gou shi (dog faeces) and zhu wa (piglet).
Some parents named their children after hard objects, such as stones, iron hammers, iron pillars or locks. These names expressed the hope that their children would be tough enough to withstand illness and other misfortunes.
Other parents gave their children rustic names, believing that an inconspicuous name would attract less attention from evil spirits and help protect them from misfortune.
Emperor Wu of the Western Han dynasty (202 BC–9) had the nickname zhi, meaning “pig” in ancient Chinese.
Sima Xiangru, a celebrated writer and diplomat of the Western Han dynasty, had the nickname quan zi, meaning “dog’s child.”
Fan Ye, a historian of the Southern dynasties (420–589), was nicknamed zhuan er, meaning “brick.”
Xin Qiji, a renowned poet and general of the Southern Song dynasty (1127–1279), gave his son the nickname tie zhu, meaning “iron pillar”, according to one of his poems.
Zhu Yuanzhang, the founding emperor of the Ming dynasty (1368–1644), was nicknamed chong ba, meaning “the eighth,” because he was the eighth child in his family.
Today, thanks to advances in medicine, few Chinese families – apart from some in rural areas – continue this practice of giving children humble nicknames. Parents no longer feel the same need to use such names to protect their children from misfortune.
A woman born in the 1980s in northwestern China’s Shaanxi province wrote on social media that her nickname was gou dan (dog and egg). When her mother once visited her at university and called her by the nickname in front of her roommates, they could not help laughing.
“How embarrassed I was at the time! But my mother is used to calling me that. Afterwards, I asked her not to use the name outside the home,” said the woman, who was identified by her surname, Zhang.
She said her parents insisted on using the nickname because she had nearly died from an illness when she was just a few months old.
In 2024, the comic TV series Gou Sheng Running Quickly, which tells the story of an orphan named gou sheng (food left over by dogs) growing up, brought the tradition of humble nicknames into the spotlight and sparked heated discussion.
“These humble nicknames carry parents’ heartfelt blessings. I think this tradition should be preserved,” one person commented.
Another user remarked: “I have an uncle in his 70s whose nickname is ye hu (chamber pot). Everyone in my family calls him that, and I don’t even know his real name.” - South China Morning Post
