Naming laws in the People's Republic of China

Naming laws in the People's Republic of China (excluding Hong Kong and Macau, as well as the Republic of China situated on the islands of Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu) are based on technical capability rather than the appropriateness of words (as opposed to naming laws in Japan, which restrict the Kanji which can be used based on appropriate taste, as well as readability by all people). Although it is advised for parents to name their children so that others are able to easily read their names, there are no restrictions on the complexity of Chinese characters used, provided that there are no technical issues in doing so (see below). The use of Simplified characters is advised over Traditional Chinese characters; however, this is not strictly enforced.

Details

"General Principles of Civil Law" Article 99 guarantees citizens the right to a name and the choice of naming therein.^[1] The right of self-naming permits the surname, although naturally obtained from the paternal side, to be taken from either parent if desired (such as in the case of a dispute between parents) under Article 22 of the "Marriage Law". Thus, the government does not interfere with the will of the person or their parents in the selection of a surname, provided that it is taken from one parent. Citizens also have the right to select their given names and aliases, in which the government has no right to interfere.

There are also no restrictions on previously used names by the government, which fully permits the usage of "well-known" names. It is not illegal to name a child after a famous celebrity, company, or product, as copyright and trademark laws do not apply to personal names. Consequently, this is able to lead to legal issues regarding intellectual property rights and legal matters, as the person is then known by the name given according to law, which opens the possibility for confusion where a personal name is exactly the same to a company or another person, such as during a court case or the creation of legal documents.^[1]

Latin characters, numerals and other non-Chinese symbols are prohibited, as they do not constitute part of a Chinese name under government law. Only Chinese characters are permitted; however, characters which are unable to be input on computers are also disallowed. There are no limits on the number of characters used, as this may vary depending on the name (typical Chinese names on average constitute 2 to 3 characters, with more than 4 being rare; however, non-Han ethnic groups such as Mongols, Tibetans and Uighurs have many syllables after transliteration into Standard Chinese).

There are no laws which restrict a person's surname to one character like most Han Chinese names, since some people of Han Chinese ethnicity have Chinese compound surnames, and it is very common for foreign residents and ethnic minorities to have long surname transcriptions. However, since the People's Republic of China government does not recognise Mongolian clan names as surnames, persons of Mongol ethnicity usually only have a registered given name and no surname (which are absent on their identification cards, whilst their passports would have "XXX" in the surname field), although some individuals choose to adopt a single-character Han Chinese surname that resembles an abbreviation of their clan name.

Technical issues

There are over 70,000 known Chinese characters, yet approximately only 32,232 are supported for computer input^[2], including both Traditional and Simplified characters (see GBK etc.). As the government database of personal names is maintained digitally on government networks, input of rarer characters becomes virtually impossible, thus creating an irremovable restriction on permitted names. All citizens within the People's Republic of China must have their details registered on the government computer network, while those over the age of 16 must carry an identification card, known in China as a Resident Identity Card at all times. As these processes are all done electronically, having a name which is not supported by electronic input makes government registration and the management of ID cards much more difficult.

Notable cases

Ma Cheng

The temporary Resident ID Card of Ma Cheng, with a handwritten "Cheng" character. Note that Ma Cheng's name appears in Simplified Chinese.^[3]

Ma Cheng (Chinese: 马 Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.