名 (míng): name, famous
名 (míng) is a Chinese character meaning “name, famous.” Classified as HSK Level 1 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 夕 (structural) and 口 (structural). It ranks #203 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 名 a name called out 口 to hail someone at night 夕. Its radical form 口 (mouth) appears in many related characters such as 口 (kǒu, mouth), 叫 (jiào, to call, to be called), 右 (yòu, (bound form) right).
Definitions
- name, famous
Etymology & Origin
ideographicA name called out 口 to hail someone at night 夕
Decomposition: ⿸夕口 (layout: surround-from-upper-left)
Stroke Order
Practice writing 名 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
HSK Vocabulary with 名
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | HSK |
|---|---|---|---|
| 名字noun | míng zi | name (of a person or thing) | 1 |
| 名单noun | míng dān | list of names | 3 |
| 著名adjective | zhù míng | famous | 4 |
| 签名verb/noun | qiān míng | to sign (one's name with a pen etc) | 5 |
| 名人noun | míng rén | personage | 3 |
| 出名adjective | chū míng | well-known for sth | 6 |
| 姓名noun | xìng míng | surname and given name | 2 |
| 名片noun | míng piàn | (business) card | 5 |
| 有名adjective | yǒu míng | famous | 3 |
| 命名verb | mìng míng | to give a name to | 6 |
| 知名adjective | zhī míng | well-known | 5 |
| 报名verb | bào míng | to sign up | 4 |
| 排名verb | pái míng | to rank (1st, 2nd etc) | 6 |
| 名牌noun | míng pái | famous brand | 5 |
| 闻名verb | wén míng | well-known | 6 |
| 名称noun | míng chēng | name (of a thing) | 5 |
| 名气noun | míng qi | reputation | 6 |
| 点名verb | diǎn míng | roll call | 4 |
| 名额noun | míng é | quota | 6 |
| 名胜noun | míng shèng | a place famous for its scenery or historical relics | 6 |
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 名叫verb | míng jiào | called |
| 罪名noun | zuì míng | charge |
| 名义noun | míng yì | name |
| 名声noun | míng shēng | reputation |
| 提名verb | tí míng | to nominate |
| 匿名verb | nì míng | anonymous |
| 名誉noun | míng yù | fame |
| 莫名其妙phrase | mò míng qí miào | (idiom) baffling |
| 名下noun | míng xià | under sb's name |
| 成名verb | chéng míng | to make one's name |
| 大名noun | dà míng | famous name |
| 取名verb | qǔ míng | to name |
| 化名verb | huà míng | to go by an alias |
名 appears in 114 compound words: 40 as the first character, 52 as the last, and 8 in a middle position. Compound statistics computed from SUBTLEX-CH and HSK 3.0 vocabulary data.
Strongest Collocations
Characters that most frequently co-occur with 名 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (71)
notorious, criminals doing all kinds of crimes and make their conducts well known
synonym of 功成名遂 (gōngchéngmíngsuì, “merits accomplished and fame obtained”)
notorious, criminals doing all kinds of crimes and make their conducts well known
Showing 12 of 71 idioms containing 名.
Example Sentences
请在表格上填写你的姓名和联系方式。
Qǐng zài biǎogé shang tiánxiě nǐ de xìngmíng hé liánxì fāngshì.
Please fill in your name and contact information on the form.
8名中国游客在贝加尔湖落水,目前仅1人获救
8 míng zhōng guó yóu kè zài bèi jiā ěr hú luò shuǐ , mù qián jǐn 1 rén huò jiù
Eight Chinese tourists fell into the water in Lake Baikal, and only one has been rescued
...频丨空间站的年夜饭都有什么?听航天员报菜名收祝福
. . . pín 丨 kōng jiān zhàn de nián yè fàn dū yǒu shén má ? yǐn háng tiān yuán bào cài míng shōu zhù fú
... Frequency丨What is the New Year's Eve dinner on the space station? The astronauts will tell you the names of the dishes and receive blessings.
杭州一步行街被指写错北宋诗人名字,“晁冲之”写成“..
háng zhōu yī bù háng jiē bèi zhǐ xiě cuò běi sòng shī rén míng zì , 晁 chōng zhī xiě chéng . .
A pedestrian street in Hangzhou was accused of writing the name of a Northern Song poet wrongly, "Chao Chongzhi" was written as "Chao Chongzhi", "Chao Chongzhi" was written as "Chao Chongzhi", "Chao Chongzhi" was written as "Chao Chongzhi"...
...台春晚直播弹幕数达1.33亿,发送数量排名前..
. . . tái chūn wǎn zhí bō dàn mù shǔ dá . yì , fā sòng shǔ liáng pái míng qián . .
Taiwan's Spring Festival Gala live stream garnered 133 million bullet comments, ranking among the top in terms of comment volume...
中国短道最靓的一个第五名——米兰冬奥会山东选手公俐..
zhōng guó duǎn dào zuì 靓 de yī gě dì wǔ míng mǐ lán dōng ào huì shān dōng xuǎn shǒu gōng 俐 . .
China's most dazzling fifth-place finisher in short track speed skating—Gong Li, the Shandong athlete at the Milan Winter Olympics...
我能问一下您的姓名和住址吗？
Wǒ néng wèn yīxià nín de xìngmíng hé zhùzhǐ ma?
Might I ask your name and address?
那个名字很普通吗？
Nàge míngzi hěn pǔtōng ma?
Is that a common name?
这本书的名字是什么？
Zhè běn shū de míngzi shì shénme?
What's the title of the book?
请问这条街的街名叫什么？
Qǐngwèn zhè tiáo jiē de jiēmíng jiào shénme?
What's the name of this street, please?
Character Family
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 名 (míng) mean in Chinese?
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What characters sound the same as 名 (míng)?
Is 名 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Practice writing 名 with real-time feedback
Trace stroke sequences, hear spoken pronunciation, and build lasting retention with spaced repetition in the HanziFeed app.