boy’s name
William in Chinese
威廉
wēi lián
William is usually written 威廉 in Chinese, pronounced wēi lián. It is a transliteration: the characters are chosen to sound like William, not for their meaning.
Character by character
| Character | Pinyin | Tone | Meaning | Traditional |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 威 | wēi | first (high, level) tone | pomp, power; powerful | 威 |
| 廉 | lián | second (rising) tone | upright, honorable, honest | 廉 |
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 William in Chinese
How do you write William in Chinese?
William is usually written 威廉 in Chinese, pronounced wēi lián. It is a transliteration: the characters are chosen to sound like William, not for their meaning.
How do you pronounce 威廉?
威廉 is pronounced wēi lián: wēi in the first (high, level) tone and lián in the second (rising) tone.
How do you write William in traditional Chinese?
The same way: 威廉 uses no simplified characters, so it is also written 威廉 in Taiwan and Hong Kong.
Is 威廉 a real Chinese name?
It is the usual way Chinese newspapers and books write the foreign name William, 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.