My legal first name is "Ping-Herng", which is the name my parents gave me at birth. This is really just an approximation to the English pronounciation of Chinese words. The word pronounced "Ping" means "to grasp, rule, and have authority over", while the word pronounced "Herng" means "perseverance, constancy, and eternity".
In contrast to most Western name formats, Chinese names start with the family name, followed by the given name. Here's what the three Chinese characters for my family name (a.k.a. lastname: "Lin") and given name (a.k.a. firstname: "Ping-Herng") look like:
To properly pronounce any Mandarin Chinese word, you need to understand four basic intonations. The first intonation is a high but level sound, similar to the sound one makes when saying the first syllable in "Justice". The second intonation is a low to high intonation, similar to the sound one makes when saying "What?". The third intonation is a low level sound, similar to the sound you make when saying the "in-" prefix of "incredible!". The fourth intonation is a high to low intonation, similar to the sound you make when you say "Wow!"
To pronounce the two words that make up my first name, use the third intonation to modulate the "Biing" sound, and the second intonation to modulate the "Heng" sound.
My family name is Lin, which means "Woods". This is a rather popular Chinese last name. The story behind this name traces to ancient Chinese times when a woman fled into the woods to protect her two children from invading warriors. Other popular versions of this last name are spelled "Lim", "Lum", and "Lam" in English. The correct Mandarin pronounciation of Lin in English, is "Lin" modulated by the second intonation.
Here's a very brief autobiography.
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