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A friend of mine has a Hokkien name of 'eng leng' (leng is long and means dragon). However, I have no idea of this 'eng'. This name was given by her ancestor who is really passed. So I am helpless trying to find out this name.

I tried finding 'eng', but I don't know the real tone and 'eng' has many different meanings. Which 'eng' should it be as a part of female name?

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  • Try 榮龍 (êng lêng, Hokkien POJ Romanisation). In general, this is not a solvable question, you need to give the meaning of "eng" or at least tell us whether it is the family name or generation name.
    – dROOOze
    Aug 17, 2020 at 6:08
  • Family name is lín 林
    – Blizax Truka
    Aug 17, 2020 at 6:37
  • The meaning of eng is i really dont know so i have to ask. If i know i can just write this.
    – Blizax Truka
    Aug 17, 2020 at 6:38
  • I really wanna know whether someone heard one named the same or if someone know the compatible or suitable word with dragon in different meanings of this eng. I am just beginner lvl learner of chinese so i dunno too much and thats why.
    – Blizax Truka
    Aug 17, 2020 at 6:40
  • In hokkien, her full name is lin eng leng.
    – Blizax Truka
    Aug 17, 2020 at 6:40

2 Answers 2

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Quote:- "Which should it be as a part of female name???"

I don't know about mainland Hokkien, but in S-E Asia, "Eng", (in Hokkien, sounding like "Eng" of England with a neutral tone), usually stands for 英. Coincidentally, also as in 英国

And even more coincidentally，my wife who is Hokkien also has "Eng", 英 in her name :)

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  • If u dont mind may i know first name of ur wife?
    – Blizax Truka
    Aug 17, 2020 at 7:18
  • The 英, ("eng") in my wife's name appears in her personal name and not as first name or surname. Her surname is 颜 (Yán in Mandarin) and "Gan", (pronounced like "gun" in Hokkien) As you know, in Chinese names, the surname comes first, so, her full Chinese name is 颜 美 英, (in Hokkien -- Gan Bee Eng) Hope you and your friend find this discussion useful, though of course some uncertainty still remains. My answer is based on what S-E Asian Hokkiens normally use.
    – Wayne Cheah
    Aug 17, 2020 at 7:37
  • I m confusing between 英 or 荣. However thanks u for ur idea
    – Blizax Truka
    Aug 17, 2020 at 7:39
  • Ur discussion is really useful. I appreciate it.
    – Blizax Truka
    Aug 17, 2020 at 7:41
  • In your wife name, yīng may be flower but if it is combined with lóng it means brave so i think it is not possible for female name. I m confused with chinese. It is so complex.
    – Blizax Truka
    Aug 17, 2020 at 7:46
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the internet archive has two hokkkien chinese-english dictionary:

A dictionary of the Hok-këèn dialect of the Chinese language

Chinese-English dictionary of the vernacular or spoken language of Amoy

that, “eng” could be 英, 鶯, 應, 永, 影, 榮, 瑩, 盈, 詠, . . .

p174-179 of the 1st, p45-46 of the 2nd

and “leng” could be 令, 羚, 寧, 靈, 能, 龍, . . .

p448-451 of the 1st, p141-142 of the 2nd

the combination of “eng-leng” is a large grid, even for female name.

so, may i ask, why & how do you know that “leng” is “龍”?

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  • She is born in dragon zodiac and she is sure for this character because it is easy to remember a zodiac creature on her name. May be she knew the whole meaning of her name in the past but now she forget. Even she has forgot, the zodiac dragon is only one she still remembers. The reason is because of her zodiac sign.
    – Blizax Truka
    Aug 18, 2020 at 1:33
  • If last one is dragon, may i know which is most compatible or suitable for this one. I really want your opinion.
    – Blizax Truka
    Aug 18, 2020 at 1:34
  • If assume the later one isnt dragon, which combination of the two characters is most suitable as a female name?
    – Blizax Truka
    Aug 18, 2020 at 1:40
  • i see, then in sequence, i would choose 英龍, 應龍, 永龍 or 詠龍. the meaning of the first character would be find in dictionary mentioned above.
    – 水巷孑蠻
    Aug 18, 2020 at 2:04
  • Thanks you so much for your effort, brother. I will definitely try them!
    – Blizax Truka
    Aug 18, 2020 at 4:11

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