As an amateur novelist and the most cultured person in my family, my grandpa naturally became his responsibility without any doubt. He gave me a great name - Zeyuan(泽远), which follows the common pattern of most Chinese given names consisting of two Chinese characters. The first character, “ze”(泽) originally means the place where the water converges into lakes, rivers, or oceans. For people and in names, it means auspiciousness and kindness。 The second character “yuan”(远) means long in time and far away in distance. For people and in names, it means having talents, aspirations, and a far-reaching vision. The combination of the two characters means having a sense of vastness and inclusiveness. It can be interpreted as being adventurous, creative, and passionate, as well as having the capacity to accommodate and assist people from every part of the world.

My grandfather named me, wishing me to have the qualities in the meaning of my name. Growing up, my family often reminded me of the meanings of my name and the responsibilities that come with the name. I am deeply affected by it and determined to become a person like that and make my name fit me one day by having the courage to step out of my comfort zone, try new things, and be kind to people around me. Another special feature of Chinese names is that they have a great emphasis on tones. The tones of my name are located on “e” and “a”. The tone of “e” is “yang ping” (rising tone), and the tone of “a” is “shang sheng” (high-rising tone). Their rhymes are compatible and perfectly fit the requirement for a name with a pleasant sound. In addition, including my family name, the three characters Zeyuan  Fan(范泽远), of my full name have three distinctive tones, which make it smoother to pronounce and easier for people to understand. Based on the data from the naming website Jimingxuan, there are approximately 18291 people in China named “Zeyuan” in 2022. Among them, 14578 are boys and 3713 are girls. Interestingly, according to the same website, my zodiac sign Leo, and my Chinese zodiac sign Monkey both rank second among the most popular zodiac signs for individuals with my name. I am pretty sure that it is a surprising coincidence as there was no such data when I was born. Overall, I love my name and I appreciate my grandfather for naming me “Zeyuan”.

Work Cited

Jimingxuan, “The meaning of Zeyuan”, 23 August. 2023

 http://www.nejiaoyu.com/mingzidaquan/32636.html. Accessed 18 September 2023.