275 Unique Chinese Dog Names And Their Meanings

The next Year of the Dog starts in 2030 and in case you didn’t know the dog is eleventh of twelve animals in Chinese zodiac.

List Of 275 Chinese Dog Names And Their Meanings:

Xiaotian

Howling sky (哮天). Xiaotian Quan is a celestial hound that runs at Erlang Shen’s heels.

Caihong

Rainbow.

Doudou

Doudou (豆豆) means little bean and is a diminutive of dou, bean.

Mudan

Peony (牡丹). Mudan is symbolizing wealth.

Mala

Numbing and spicy in Mandarin (麻辣), and a loop of prayer beads in Sanskrit (माला).

Chenxi

Morning sunlight.

Huntun

混沌 means muddled confusion.

Jiangyou

Soy sauce (酱油), literally ‘paste oil’, and Chinese cooks use light and dark versions.

Tangtang

“sugar/candy.”

Maobi

Hair pen (毛笔), a Chinese ink brush.

Mandarin Chinese Female Names For Dogs:

Name	Meaning	Pronunciation
Lingling	“tinkling jade”	LING-ling
Xuanxuan	daylily	SHWEN-shwen
Jiajia	fine one	JYAH-jyah
Tingting	graceful	TING-ting
Yaoyao	“precious jade.”	YOW-yow
Nuonuo	sticky, like rice	NWAW-nwaw
Qianqian	a pretty smile	CHYEN-chyen
Ningning	calm, or tranquil	NING-ning
Miaomiao	sprouts	MYOW-myow
Huanhuan	“merry”	HWAHN-hwahn
Sisi	threads of silk	SUH-suh or SEE-see
Dandan	red, cinnabar	DAHN-dahn
Fangfang	fragrance	FAHNG-fahng
Xinxin	“glad”	SHIN-shin
Lili	lovely	LEE-lee
Yingying	lovely	YING-ying

Evewn more below.

Laohu

Tiger (老虎), with lao as an empty prefix.

Lizi

Chestnut.

Pangpang

‘Chubby.’

Qiezi

Eggplant (茄子). Chinese say it for photos, like we say cheese.

Shuaige

Shuaige is handsome guy. Save

Wangcai

“Prosperous wealth” (旺财)

Hongdou

Red bean (红豆). Wang Wei wrote a poem about red beans that grow in southern lands.

Zhuque

Vermilion bird of south (朱雀). Zhuque-2 became first rocket burning methane to reach orbit.

Xiaogou

Puppy. I recommended it for a Chinese boy dog.

Gungun

Gungun (滚滚, GWUN-gwun) – Means “rolling.”

Mangguo

芒果 the the fruit mango.

Tudou

Potato (土豆), ‘earth bean’.

Xique

Magpie of joy (喜鹊). On Qixi, magpies form a bridge so Niulang and Zhinü can meet.

Ruyi

“As you wish” (如意), and a scepter for good luck.

Taitai

Madam.

Mihoutao

Mihoutao (猕猴桃) is pronounced mee-ho-TOW and is meaning macaque peach, Chinese for kiwi fruit.

Taibai

Venus (太白). Li Bai (701-762) used Taibai as his courtesy name.

Xiongmao

Bear cat (熊猫). Taiwan flips it to maoxiong (猫熊), cat bear.

Hujiao

Foreign pepper (胡椒). Why foreign? Pepper came to China with trade routes from west.

Fu

Fortune (福).

Shou

Long life (寿). That’s Shou Xing’s department, who is a star god with a bald forehead.

Mimi

A call for kittens in Chinese (咪咪) and ear in Japanese (耳).

Yu

Jade (玉).

Chang’e

Moon goddess (嫦娥)..

Kuaile

“Happy.”

Didi

Little brother in Mandarin (弟弟) / big sister in Hindi (दीदी)

Gu

Drum.

Chinese Pet Names With Meanings:

Name	Meaning	Pronunciation
Rourou	“chubby meat.”	ROH-roh
Haha	laughing one	HAH-hah
Qiaokeli	chocolate, in Mandarin	chyow-kuh-LEE
Mumu	wood, or dazed	MOO-moo
Haitun	“sea piglet”	HYE-twun
Buding	pudding	boo-DING
Kaixin	“open heart”	KYE-shin
Ququ	cricket	CHOO-choo
Huangyou	yellow oil, butter	hwahng-YOH
Qiaoqiao	stealthy, till dinner	chyow-CHYOW
Dianxin	“dot the heart”	dyen-SHIN
Xiaoqi	“little seven.”	shyow-CHEE
Hongzao	red jujube	HONG-dzow or hong-DZOW
Shufu	comfortable	SHOO-foo
Mianmian	fluffy, or endless	MYEN-myen

The list continues.

Tangyuan

Soup rounds (汤圆), sweet rice balls that families eat at Lantern Festival in spring.

Piaoliang

pretty/good-looking.well done/smart

Pipa

Lute with four strings (琵琶), and you know, this also means loquat (枇杷), a fruit with lute-shaped leaves.

Xishi

West Shi (西施), one of China’s Four Beauties.

Jiangjun

General (将军). Xiangqi players say jiangjun to call check.

Shandian

Lightning, “flash electricity.”

Pingguo

Apple (苹果). On Christmas Eve, Ping’an Ye in China, friends swap a apple.

Shizi

Lion (狮子). Shih Tzu, as a breed label, comes from this word. Save

Hehe

“harmony”/“union”/“peace”/“joining”

Xuehua

“Snow flower,” a snowflake.

Guaiguai

Well-behaved (乖乖). Taiwanese engineers put green bags of Kuai Kuai corn puffs on servers so machines behave.

Lele

Here, a Mandarin option (乐乐) with a cheerful meaning of “happy happy.”

Moli

Jasmine (茉莉). Puccini wove a Chinese folk tune about this flower into Turandot.

Panhu

Plate gourd (盘瓠). In southern Chinese myth this five-colored dog won a princess after she brought an enemy general’s head.

Tiedan

‘Iron egg.’

Hamigua

Hami melon (哈密瓜), grown around Hami, and is an oasis city in Xinjiang.

Mifan

Cooked rice. Save

Shaolin

Young forest (少林). Its temple is on Mount Song in Henan.

Pipi

“Cheeky.”

Kele

Kele (可乐), Mandarin form of cola, which comes from kola, a West African nut. Literally, “can be happy.”

Dashan

Big mountain (大山). He’s Mark Rowswell, a Canadian comic famous in China.

Ludou

Mung bean, ‘green bean’.

Lianhua

Lianhua (莲花) is symbolizing purity in Buddhist art. Zhou Dunyi (1017-1073) loved this lotus for the caacity to rise out of mud.

Beibei

Treasure, shell (贝贝). Beibei was a blue fish, one of five Fuwa mascots for Beijing 2008.

Yaya

Duckling. Save

Kuaizi

Chopsticks.

Bianpao

Firecracker.

Jinyu

Goldfish (金鱼). China bred them first from a wild carp.

Huanghun

Li Shangyin wrote that sunset is boundless and lovely, only close to dusk. Huanghun (黄昏): dusk.

Dahuang

Big yellow (大黄).

Laifu

‘Fortune arrives’.

Mo

Ink (墨), ink stick, black, or writing.

Yinzi

Silver.

Tiangou

Sky dog (天狗), and in folk belief it swallows sun or moon during an eclipse.

Changsheng

Symbolizing long life, Changsheng (长生) means living forever.

Boluo

Pineapple (菠萝). Hong Kong’s pineapple bun actually has no pineapple in it.

Lan

Orchid.

Yinhe

Silver river, Yinhe (银河) has roots in yin, silver, and he, river, and it is how Chinese says Milky Way.

Shapi

Shapi (沙皮) means sand skin and is from Cantonese sa pei, source of Shar Pei.

Jidan

‘Chicken egg’.

Fafa

Prosper, prosper (发发). Ba (八), eight, rhymes with fa, which is why Beijing opened its Olympics at eight past eight on August eighth, 2008.

Huajuan

Flower roll (花卷), a twisted steamed bun.

Qilin

Qilin (麒麟, CHEE-leen) – Means a hooved beast of good omen. In 1414 a giraffe from Bengal reached Ming court and was viewed as a qilin.

Xiezhi

One horn and a nose for guilt: in Chinese myth this beast, 獬豸, butted whichever side was wrong in a lawsuit.

Jiaozi

Dumplings (饺子). In northern China families fold them on New Year’s Eve and eat around midnight.

Gege

Big brother (哥哥).

Lei

Thunder in Mandarin (雷), a flower garland in Hawaiian.

Danta

Danta (蛋挞), Cantonese form of English tart, which comes from French tarte. Dan is egg.

Xiaohei

Little black.

Yutu

Jade rabbit (玉兔), pounding herbs on moon in folk tales. China’s first moon rover was called Yutu.

Huoguo

Hotpot (火锅), a ‘fire pot’ bubbling in middle of a table.

Xuanwu

Black Tortoise (玄武), dark warrior of north. In Li Shimin ambushed his brothers at Xuanwu Gate in 626.

Niuniu

Little girl, lass.

Lihai

formidable/awesome.tough/sharp

Mifeng

From mi (蜜), honey, and feng (蜂) is symbolizing bee.

Feicui

jadeite (翡翠)

Tanghulu

Sugar gourd (糖葫芦)..

Changcheng

Long wall (长城), as in Great Wall of China.

Huahua

Flowery, spotted.

Nezha

Nezha (哪吒) comes from Sanskrit Nalakubara, a guardian god. Ne Zha 2 beat Inside Out 2 was the highest-grossing animated film ever.

Taiyang

‘Great yang’, sun.

Bangbang

‘Awesome’.

Zhenzhu

Pearl.

Duanwu

Duanwu (端午, DWAN-woo): ‘first fifth’, for fifth day of fifth month.

Xiaolong

Little dragon (小龙). Bruce Lee (1940-1973) was known as Li Xiaolong in Chinese.

Meinu

Pretty woman.

Xiaozhu

Piglet (小猪). Peppa Pig is Xiaozhu Peiqi in China.

Pixiu

Winged lion of good fortune (貔貅). Pixiu eats gold and has no anus, so wealth only goes in.

Huli

Fox (狐狸). Huli jing are fox spirits that take human form in Chinese tales.

Ayi

Auntie.

Fanqie

Foreign eggplant (番茄), a tomato.

Lulu

Lulu has different meanings depending on language. In Chinese it is dewdrops (露露), from lu, dew, and in Arabic (لؤلؤ) and Swahili lulu is a pearl. Hawaiian speakers use it for calm and sheltered.

Fenghuang

Phoenix (凤凰): feng is male, huang female, and they rule as king of birds.

Benben

“clumsy/dim.”

Hupo

amber (琥珀)

Hongbao

Red envelope (红包). Its red is symbolizing luck. Lunar New Year money goes inside.

Qiuqiu

Little ball, from qiu, ball.

Taiji

Taiji (太极), It is pronounced as TIE-jee, and is also spelled as tai chi.

Wawa

Wawa (娃娃) is meaning doll.

Shuangxi

‘Double joy’ (双喜, also written 囍).

Bingdundun

Ice (冰) and dundun (墩墩), chubby.

Zhongqiu

Mid-autumn (中秋), when families eat mooncakes under a full moon.

Dudu

Toot (嘟嘟) in Chinese as well as a bug in Swahili.

Juzi

Tangerine (橘子). In Cantonese, gat (桔, tangerine) matches gat (吉, luck).

Pangu

First being of Chinese myth (盘古).

Shitou

Stone (石头). Story of the Stone is another title for Dream of the Red Chamber.

Wulong

Wulong (乌龙) means black dragon and is from Fujian tea country, better known as oolong.

Xiake

Wandering swordsman.

Liming

Dawn (黎明). Leon Lai is Li Ming in Chinese.

Changjiang

Long river (长江). Yangtze runs six thousand three hundred kilometres. It is the longest in Asia.

Wukong

Aware of emptiness (悟空). Sun Wukong is the Monkey King of Journey to the West.

Jixiang

“auspicious”/“lucky”/“propitious”/“fortunate”

Qingting

Dragonfly.

Xigua

Western melon, Xigua (西瓜) has roots in xi, west, and gua, melon.

Houyi

Houyi (后羿, HOH-yee/HO-ee) – Means “Lord Yi,” or “archer Yi.”

Xingfu

Happiness, as in a happy life.

Xueqiu

Snowball (雪球).

Nuwa

Nuwa (女娲) means woman Wa and is from Chinese myth.

Longyan

Longyan (龙眼, LONG-yen/LUNG-yahn) – Means “dragon eye” or longan.

Lizhi

Lychee (荔枝). Tang emperor Xuanzong had relay horses race fresh lychees to Yang Guifei.

Huoche

Fire cart, a train.

Keai

cute/lovable.

Qinglong

Azure Dragon of east (青龙). Guan Yu’s blade was a Green Dragon Crescent Blade.

Taishan

Mount Tai (泰山).

Mengmeng

Cute (萌萌), from Japanese moe, slang that Chinese fans adopted online.

Ningmeng

Lemon.

Shushu

Uncle.

Qixi

Seventh evening (七夕), falling on seventh day of seventh lunar month (Chinese Valentine’s Day).

Nian

Year (年). Folk tales tell of Nian, a beast that raided villages each New Year’s Eve.

Dengta

Lighthouse, ‘lamp tower’.

Gongfu

Gongfu (功夫), It is pronounced as GONG-foo, and is also spelled as kung fu.

Kuku

Cool (酷酷), a loan from English and chicken in Swahili.

Baitu

White rabbit (白兔).

Erlang

Second son (二郎). Erlang Shen is Xiaotian’s master at top of this list.

Erhu

Two-string fiddle.

Haibao

Sea treasure (海宝), and blue mascot of Shanghai Expo 2010.

Xiaoqiang

Little strong (小强). Stephen Chow’s comedy Flirting Scholar (1993) made Xiaoqiang slang for cockroach.

Nangua

Southern melon, pumpkin.

Jiejie

Big sister.

Fengzheng

Wind zither (风筝).

Tinghua

Obedient, ‘listens to words’.

Xihu

West Lake (西湖). Hangzhou’s lake is on UNESCO’s World Heritage List.

Guotie

‘Pot stick’, a potsticker.

Huasheng

Flower born, peanut.

Jiujiu

Long-lasting (久久, JYO-jyo).

Shanghai

Shanghai (上海) is meaning “upon sea”.

Shanzha

Hawthorn (山楂), a tart red fruit.

Feng

Wind.

Hutu

Muddled (糊涂). Zheng Banqiao wrote nande hutu (难得糊涂), “hard to be muddled”.

Xi’an

Western peace (西安). Xi’an is home to Qin Shi Huang’s terracotta army.

Doufu

Bean curd, tofu.

Jianbing

Fried pancake (煎饼).

Huangdi

Emperor (皇帝). Qin Shi Huang made up this one for himself after uniting China.

Wangwang

‘Woof woof’ (汪汪).

Laba

Trumpet (喇叭), and also Laba Festival (腊八), eighth day of twelfth month.

Jingba

Short for jingbagou (京巴狗), capital pug, China’s word for Pekingese dogs.

Xigou

Slim dog (细狗).

Mianbao

Bread, ‘flour bun’.

Zhuangzhuang

sturdy/strong.stout/hearty

Laoda

Eldest child or boss of a gang.

Anan

Peace in Mandarin (安安), cloud in Hebrew (ענן).

Bingqilin

Ice cream (冰淇淋).

Mingming

bright/clear.shining/light

Songshi

Puffy lion (松狮), Chinese for chow chow.

Guang

Light (光), glory, smooth, or bare.

Jingang

Vajra (金刚), diamond thunderbolt in Buddhism.

Longjing

Dragon well (龙井).

Shuijing

Water crystal, rock crystal.

Afu

Lucky one (阿福). Da Afu clay dolls are a souvenir of Wuxi.

Hudie

Butterfly (蝴蝶).

Duoduo

Duoduo (朵朵) is from Mandarin and has a meaning that I love, “blossoms” or “clusters of flowers.”

Chashao

Chashao (叉烧) is meaning ‘fork roast’.

Yueliang

Moon, ‘moon bright’.

Yuanyuan

Round, complete (圆圆).

Mantou

Mantuo (馒头): steamed bun.

Fugui

Rich and honored (富贵). Xu Fugui loses almost everything in Yu Hua’s novel To Live.

Zhima

Sesame (芝麻). Open Sesame in Chinese is zhima kaimen (芝麻开门).

Dabai

Big white (大白).

Zhuzi

Bamboo.

Xingxing

Stars.

Laoye

Grandpa (姥爷, on mother’s side, in north China) or master of a house (老爷).

Xiansheng

Mister (先生), literally ‘born first’, and a polite word for teachers in classical times.

Diandian

Little dots.

Nainai

Grandma.

Xiaomi

Millet (小米). Xiaomi is also a phone maker that was founded by Lei Jun.

Shagua

Silly melon, a fool.

Goudan

Dog egg (狗蛋). Rural families once called kids Goudan so evil spirits would ignore.

Yinghua

Yinghua (樱花) is from Mandarin and has a meaning that I like, cherry blossom.. It is a flower that fills Wuhan University each March.

Qipao

Banner gown (旗袍). Manchu women of Eight Banners wore a form of it.

Xiong

Bear.

Lang

Wolf (狼). Jiang Rong’s novel Wolf Totem sold millions in China.

Yiyi

One one (一一). Edward Yang won best director at Cannes for Yi Yi.

Liuliu

Six six (六六). Liuliu dashun (六六大顺) wishes that things go smooth.

Baihu

White Tiger (白虎), guardian of west in Four Symbols of Chinese sky.

Baobei

Treasure, darling.

Ping’an

Safe and sound.

Youtiao

Oil stick (油条).

Doujiang

Soy milk, ‘bean broth’.

Baozi

Stuffed bun.

Huluobo

Huluobo (胡萝卜) is derived from hu, foreign, and comes from luobo, radish. Carrot.

Houzi

Monkey.

Niangao

Year cake (年糕).

Mianhuatang

Cotton candy (棉花糖), ‘cotton sugar’.

Huanghou

Empress (皇后). Wu Zetian ruled China alone as emperor.

Kafei

Kafei (咖啡) is Mandarin form of coffee, which comes from Turkish kahve.

Nailao

Cheese, milk curd.

Maomao

Maomao (毛毛) means fuzzy and is a diminutive of mao, hair.

Yunduo

Cloud puff.

Chuntian

Springtime.

Naiyou

‘Cream’.

Qiqi

Fine jade (琪琪). Kiki of Kiki’s Delivery Service is Qiqi in Chinese versions.

Laoban

Boss (老板), owner of a shop.

Huoqiu

Fireball.

Mulan

Pronounced MOO-lahn, it means magnolia (木兰). In a Northern Wei ballad Hua Mulan takes her father’s place in an army.

Denglong

Lantern.

Xuanzhi

Xuan paper (宣纸).

Huangshan

Yellow Mountain (黄山), renamed during Tang dynasty for Yellow Emperor (黄帝).

Tongqian

Copper coin (铜钱).

Shanhu

Coral.

Bingtang

Ice sugar (冰糖) or rock sugar.