boy’s name
Tom in Chinese
汤姆
tāng mǔ · traditional 湯姆
Tom is usually written 汤姆 in Chinese, pronounced tāng mǔ. It is a transliteration: the characters are chosen to sound like Tom, not for their meaning.
Character by character
| Character | Pinyin | Tone | Meaning | Traditional |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 汤 | tāng | first (high, level) tone | hot water; soup, gravy, broth | 湯 |
| 姆 | mǔ | third (dipping) tone | child's governess; matron | 姆 |
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 Tom in Chinese
How do you write Tom in Chinese?
Tom is usually written 汤姆 in Chinese, pronounced tāng mǔ. It is a transliteration: the characters are chosen to sound like Tom, not for their meaning.
How do you pronounce 汤姆?
汤姆 is pronounced tāng mǔ: tāng in the first (high, level) tone and mǔ in the third (dipping) tone.
How do you write Tom in traditional Chinese?
In traditional characters, used in Taiwan and Hong Kong, it is written 湯姆.
Is 汤姆 a real Chinese name?
It is the usual way Chinese newspapers and books write the foreign name Tom, 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.