Chinese personal names are names used by those from mainland China, Hong Kong,

Macau, Taiwan, and the Chinese diaspora overseas. Due to China's historical
dominance of East Asian culture, many names used in Korea and Vietnam are
adaptations of Chinese names, or have historical roots in Chinese, with appropriate
adaptation to accommodate linguistic differences.

Modern Chinese names consist of a surname known as xing (姓, xìng), which comes
first and is usually but not always monosyllabic, followed by a personal name
called ming (名, míng), which is nearly always mono- or disyllabic. Prior to the
20th century, educated Chinese also utilized a "courtesy name" or "style name"
called zi (字, zì) by which they were known among those outside their family and
closest friends.

From at least the time of the Shang dynasty, the Chinese observed a number of
naming taboos regulating who may or may not use a person's given name (without
being disrespectful). In general, using the given name connoted the speaker's
authority and superior position to the addressee. Peers and younger relatives were
barred from speaking it. Owing to this, many historical Chinese figures—
particularly emperors—used a half-dozen or more different names in different
contexts and for different speakers. Those possessing names (sometimes even mere
homophones) identical to the emperor's were frequently forced to change them. The
normalization of personal names after the May Fourth Movement has generally
eradicated aliases such as the school name and courtesy name but traces of the old
taboos remain, particularly within families.