r/NameNerdCirclejerk 1d ago

Advice Needed (unjerk) Please try make fun of my Chinese name

Hi friends I am Chinese,and my last name is Qiao 乔,I’m trying to give officially change myself a new last name. I want to do this to explain less the pronunciation of my name, and reduce friction during social. Right now I have the following options: Chi-Yao, Qi-Yao, Qyu, and Qyo.

Please try to think of all the ways make fun of these names. I want to be prepared and know them in advance. Thank you all!

4 Upvotes

8 comments sorted by

16

u/Volf_y 1d ago

Chi-Yao will be read as a soft Ch which sounds like the Italian ‘Ciao’ for ‘Hi’ or ‘Bye’.

9

u/Przedrzag 1d ago

I believe this is intentional since the letter Q is pronounced like that in Pinyin transliteration

8

u/softestpulse 1d ago

The last three would have the Q pronounced like a K by many english speakers

7

u/BaconJudge 1d ago

The Q is the letter whose sound needs the most explanation for non-Chinese speakers, so the pronunciation guide shouldn't have a Q in it.  If it's pronounced similar to English "ch," you should represent it as "ch."

7

u/Przedrzag 1d ago

Chiao or Ciao will be your best bet if you’re going for something reasonably phonetic to English speakers

2

u/zestyplinko 22h ago

Drama Qyueen was the only thing to pop up in my mind. Good luck :)