How To Say My Name Is In Chinese?

If you are in China, the first question you may hear when meeting someone for the first time is：你叫什么名字？[nǐ jiào shén me míng zi] or 你的名字叫什么？[nǐ de míng zi jiào shén me] or in an informal way: 你叫什么？ [nǐ jiào shén me], which all mean “what’s your name?” Then how to introduce yourself with “my name is….” in Chinese? Let’s have a look "how to say my name is in Chinese".

The most common and simple ways to say my name is in Chinese

1. If you search on the internet, "my name is…" is translated into Chinese as 我的名字是… [wǒ de míng zi shì …]. It’s a formal way to introduce yourself. So you should use your full name.

Tips:
In China, the family name is in front of the first name. For example, 张三[zhāng sān], 张[zhāng] is the family name and三[sān] is the first name.

2. 我的名字叫… [wǒ de míng zi jiào …] - "my name is…". It’s a more common way to introduce your name. It can be used either in formal or informal situation. Adding your full name or first name behind are both okay.

3. 我叫… [wǒ jiào …] - “I am called…”. It is the typical way to answer “What’s your name” in Chinese. And it’s fine to answer with either your full name or your first name.

4. 我是… [wǒ shì …] - “I am…”. It is another response to “What’s your name?” in Chinese. It’s okay to say your full name or your first name.

5. 我姓… [wǒ xìng …] - “My surname is…” “My family name is…”
   Chinese people generally don’t want to tell other people their first name unless they’re close. So they often use the family name to introduce themselves when they don’t know each other well.

Tips 1:
If people ask you “您贵姓？” [nín guì xìng]- “What's your noble family name?” They use 贵[guì] - noble to show their respect and politeness. Or in an informal way “你姓什么？” [nǐ xìng shén me]- “What’s your surname?”. If you want to be modest, you can say 免贵姓王 [miǎn guì xìng wáng] - “My family name is Wang.” And you can also answer directly: 我姓王 [wǒ xìng wáng] - “My surname is Wang.”
Tips 2:
In order to show politeness and modesty, Chinese people would like to introduce themselves with the structure “小+the family name”.
For example:
我姓王，你可以叫我小王。
wǒ xìng wáng ，nǐ kě yǐ jiào wǒ xiǎo wáng 。
My family name is Wang, you can call me Xiaowang.

Basic Chinese introduction structures

If you want to introduce yourself in China, there are some basic introduction structures for you.

1. 你(您)好，我叫张三，很高兴认识你(您)。- The most common way to use when you introduce yourself.
   nǐ (nín) hǎo，wǒ jiào zhāng sān，hěn gāo xìng rèn shí nǐ (nín)。
   Hello, my name is Zhang San. Nice to meet you.
2. 大家好，我叫张三，很高兴认识大家。- This is usually used to introduce yourself in public.
   dà jiā hǎo，wǒ jiào zhāng sān，hěn gāo xìng rèn shí dà jiā。
   Hello, everyone, my name is Zhang San. Nice to meet you all.

How to introduce yourself in ancient China

People in ancient China use special structures to introduce themselves: “the family name + the first name + the character + where they come from+…”

For example:
小生姓张，名飞，字益德，籍贯河北保定。
xiǎo shēng xìng zhāng ，míng fēi ，zì yì dé，jí guàn hé běi bǎo dìng 。
My surname is Zhang, my first name is Fei, my character is Yide, and I come from Baoding City, Hebei Province.

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