Dears,

I'm new here. And i find it's a good place. I'm glad to make friends with all of u. :)

I'm a girl from China. I'm puzzled all along to have an English Name for myself. But it's time I must pick some one since i'm going to have an English interview. My chinese name is Liu JiaYing. 'Liu' is my family name while 'jia' and 'ying' both mean 'good or pleasure'. I want an English name which is popular and started with 'J' so that both my English name and my Chinese name are capital of 'J'. But I can't go on. I don't know which one is better and suitable. Is there anyone could do some help? I'd be very thankful!

Sincerely yours,
Liu Jiaying from shanghai, China

Hello, Jiaying...

Here are some "J" names...

Jessica (a favorite of mine)
Jennifer
Jill (a kind of tomboyish name)
Juliette (a bit 'precious' but dramatic, if you're the dramatic type)
Jan (crisp, short for 'Janice,' friendly and also, coincidentally, the abbreviation for January, first month in the year on many calendars--and, since you're beginning with a new name, would be a symbol of sorts)

Just a few ideas. I hope you'll enjoy choosing your new name.

Best regards,
WW

PS: There's also 'Joyce,' which has the word 'joy' embedded in it--and 'joy' is very good feeling. However, I find the sound of 'Joyce' icy and cold for some subjective reason.

PPS: Well, then there's 'Joy' itself. Joy does mean very good feeling--elation, in fact. Joy might be a good possibility if you're looking for both the "J" and the good feeling associated with your own name.

Welcome, vienna/JiaYing - it's good to have you on the Board with us, where you join a select band of people whose first language is not English and who provide the rest of us with a refreshing and useful insight into the language from the outside (if you see what I mean!)

As to an English name beginning with J, there are several "popular" ones - the popularity depends, to some extent, on whether you are going to England, America, or Australia/New Zealand.

In the UK, Janeis always popular: nice, short, easy to say. But Juliette/Julia/Julie are all quite usual names.
Joan and Judith/Judy aren't quite so common these days, but are still usual enough not to stand out too much.

But one name which is very popular over here, at the moment, is Jade, which you might consider. It is seen as a beautiful gem, with the idea of pleasure attached to it, and it has decidely Chinese overtones.

Welcome, JiaYing!
personally, I like JiaYing.

I can't think of any other choices which you haven't been given, but I was curious as to your pick of "vienna". How did you decide on that?

I agree with etaoin. Be proud of your Chinese name and
use it. It has a musical sound, and your new friends will have no difficulting in pronouncing it once you say it to them. :eave it up to your new friends to give you a nickname if they wish to.

Hi vienna,
I tend to agree with etaoin, I think JiaYing is a fine name, but far be it from us to stand in the way of your interview.
It occurs to me that many of the names mentioned are not strictly English. Some are foreign but have English spellings, some are common in English with a particular pronunciation but are used widely in many countries. 'Judith' for example, has numerous pronunciations - so this might sway your decision - depending on whether you intend to use the name largely on paper or in spoken language. It might be important to consider who will use the name and how practical it will be for your purposes. There are many J names ...Joy, Jane, Josephine, Jeanette (or Janet)
I've always liked Janina and Jasmine, but really only with a soft J.
Good Luck choosing one!

Here is a website that gives the meanings of names--I've marked it at the J page:
http://www.babynames.com/V5/index.php?content=names/j.html

I think Joy is a good match, if you are a joyful person (most of the time). Joyce might be a better match if you're just "ordinarily" happy. Jasmine means perfume (more or less), and that is generally a pleasant, good thing. I have to say that, thanks to too many bad movies, Jade as a name for an Oriental female is pretty much a cliché, here in the U.S. I also agree that your given name is very nice, and would be perfectly acceptable.

by--what is a soft j?

by--what is a soft j?

if I may, I believe it's as opposed to "y": yahz-meen(or -mihn) or; j as in "joy".

some name are hard to say in english, they are rendered with constanats or naturaly contain sounds that are not part of of english's collection of sounds.

looking at your chinese name, it would seem easy enough to say in english (as to whether or not it would sound close to what is should sound like is an other matter.) and since chinese is a tonal language, it i realize it might end up sounding like something silly as most english speakers would say it.

i like the idea of joyce is is a good match for meaning.. but i agree with word wind, it does have a harsh sound.. so why not Jo- (a varient of the word Joy, -found in a poem by Robert Burns, 'John Anderson, my jo!)that keeps the meaning, and gets rid of the harsh sound at the end of the name.
and because you chinese name has two parts, i suggest Lynn for the second part. it has the right sounds to match Ying

Compound names are not unknown or unpopular in american english.. so i suggest JoLynn-- it has many of the same sounds as found in your chinese name, rearranged... and goes well with your last name in either chinese order Liu JoLynn, or JoLynn Lui.. and it retains some of the meaning in your chinese name.

hei, everybody

I'm here again! and I come here to say thanks!
All of you are just so warmhearted!
I choose Jolynn as my English name and I do like it.Special thanks to of troy

PS: As for vienna, I just like the pronouciation of the word and I want to visit this beautiful city someday!

>why not Jo- (a varient of the word Joy, -found in a poem by Robert Burns, 'John Anderson, my jo!)

just one minor matter of clarification: jo, as used by Burns, is a Scottish word meaning 'sweetheart'. the original but now obsolete sense was joy or pleasure.