An Expatriate in Taiwan

15 thoughts on “Family names”

1. Pingback: Mandarin and Taiwanese family names | An Expatriate in Taiwan

2. Gene December 13, 2013 at 12:51

   Very useful compilation. Thanks for putting this together!

   Reply
3. robert January 10, 2014 at 15:03

   Thank you this is a big help to me, as i am in taiwan now meeting my new inlaws and yeah learn mandarin then come here and feel like you had never studied

   Reply
4. Les January 27, 2014 at 05:22

   This is excellent. I do have one question as to why many Taiwanese call their peers little sister/little brother or call adults aunt or uncle?

   Reply
   1. The Expatriate Post authorOctober 7, 2014 at 22:59

      I believe it’s just a term of affection/intimacy. Often if they are colleagues/coworkers, you might hear them called 帥哥 and 美女 (Handsome Brother and Beautiful Woman), also as a term of friendship.

      Reply
5. Alison June 13, 2014 at 04:56

   I’m curious about the collective or plural forms, specifically for grandparents. I find myself repeating “ah-ma and ah-gong” a lot, as in, “We’re going to ah-ma and ah-gong’s house tonight.” Is there a term for referring for them both together, as if to say “your grandparents’ house”? I forgot to ask my in-laws about this the last time I saw them!

   Reply
   1. The Expatriate Post authorOctober 9, 2014 at 17:46

      Not that I know of. Generally, people will just say, “We’re going to go see grandpa and grandma!” or, in Chinese, “我們去看阿公阿媽!” It’s short and simple enough, and the Chinese don’t seem to need a phrase that means “grandparents” in the plural form.

      Reply
6. Lou December 23, 2014 at 13:55

   Thanks for this page!!
   I’ve got my children calling their grandparents A-Gong and A-ma (I’m a Taiwanese father). What is the proper term for my children to call their grandmothers brothers/sisters? I see names for grandfather’s brothers/sister on the father’s side, but I didn’t see terms for grandmother’s brothers/sisters on the father’s side.

   Of all of my relatives, my aunts (mother’s younger sisters) visit most often, and I’m not sure if I’m even saying one term properly- one of them told me to have my kids call her something that sounded like “ee-burr”. I suppose the “ee” part is related to the fact that I refer to those aunts as “a-i / A-Yi”, but I’m lost on the proper pronunciation of the 2nd half of the term.

   Thanks for any help!

   Reply
   1. Jonny February 28, 2016 at 20:04

      I’ll let the author correct me if I am mistaken, but I think the term you refer to, “ee-burr”, might be 姨婆, which I believe is “î-pô” in Pe̍h-ōe-jī Romanisation.

      This is what my wife’s family (both young and old generations) call the younger sister of my wife’s maternal grandmother. Hope that helps, this confuses the hell out of me too!

      Reply
      1. The Expatriate Post authorJune 28, 2016 at 17:22

         Thanks. I’m not familiar with Pe̍h-ōe-jī Romanisation, so I’m sure my pronunciations/pinyin are off.

         Reply

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8. Jonny February 28, 2016 at 19:51

   Thank you for providing such a comprehensive page! I speak and read Chinese(s) but have always struggled with the correct terms for family, especially in different Chinese languages. Your page has been vital for me meeting my in-laws in Tainan! 佩服！

   Reply
9. Holly September 9, 2016 at 20:59

   Thanks for putting this together! My daughter and her fiancé (Caucasian) are in Taiwan and have found this really helpful after I sent the link to them. I learned Péh-ōi-ji when I was young from vacation Bible school. However I have lost the ability due to lack of use for several decades. I have made my own pronunciation spellings for my daughter and her cousins. A-Gon is grandfather, A-Gu is uncle from mother side, A-Gim is A-Gu’s wife and so on. I have found this is so endearing about have a different name to everyone you are related to, which also makes an unique Takwanese culture.

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10. kaoru March 15, 2017 at 16:24

    can’t believe i am here since i know all these anyway.

    Reply
    1. The Expatriate Post authorJanuary 17, 2018 at 09:16

       If there are any gaps or anything you’d like to add, I’d appreciate it. Thanks for stopping by.

       Reply