girl’s name
Lillian in Chinese
莉莲
lì lián · traditional 莉蓮
Lillian is usually written 莉莲 in Chinese, pronounced lì lián. It is a transliteration: the characters are chosen to sound like Lillian, not for their meaning.
Character by character
| Character | Pinyin | Tone | Meaning | Traditional |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 莉 | lì | fourth (falling) tone | white jasmine | 莉 |
| 莲 | lián | second (rising) tone | lotus, water lily; paradise | 蓮 |
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 Lillian in Chinese
How do you write Lillian in Chinese?
Lillian is usually written 莉莲 in Chinese, pronounced lì lián. It is a transliteration: the characters are chosen to sound like Lillian, not for their meaning.
How do you pronounce 莉莲?
莉莲 is pronounced lì lián: lì in the fourth (falling) tone and lián in the second (rising) tone.
How do you write Lillian in traditional Chinese?
In traditional characters, used in Taiwan and Hong Kong, it is written 莉蓮.
Is 莉莲 a real Chinese name?
It is the usual way Chinese newspapers and books write the foreign name Lillian, 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.