boy’s name
Brian in Chinese
布莱恩
bù lái ēn · traditional 布萊恩
Brian is usually written 布莱恩 in Chinese, pronounced bù lái ēn. It is a transliteration: the characters are chosen to sound like Brian, not for their meaning.
Character by character
| Character | Pinyin | Tone | Meaning | Traditional |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 布 | bù | fourth (falling) tone | cotton cloth, textiles, linen | 布 |
| 莱 | lái | second (rising) tone | goosefoot, weed; fallow field | 萊 |
| 恩 | ēn | first (high, level) tone | kindness, mercy, charity | 恩 |
Readings and meanings come from the Unicode Han Database (Unihan). In a transliterated name, the meanings of the characters are not read as a sentence.
Questions about Brian in Chinese
How do you write Brian in Chinese?
Brian is usually written 布莱恩 in Chinese, pronounced bù lái ēn. It is a transliteration: the characters are chosen to sound like Brian, not for their meaning.
How do you pronounce 布莱恩?
布莱恩 is pronounced bù lái ēn: bù in the fourth (falling) tone, lái in the second (rising) tone and ēn in the first (high, level) tone.
How do you write Brian in traditional Chinese?
In traditional characters, used in Taiwan and Hong Kong, it is written 布萊恩.
Is 布莱恩 a real Chinese name?
It is the usual way Chinese newspapers and books write the foreign name Brian, so Chinese readers will recognise it as a foreign name. If you would like a name that looks Chinese, our free generator also suggests names chosen for their meaning.
How do Chinese transliterations work? Read how we choose your Chinese name.