Check out part 1 first! In both part 1 and this post, I am looking at 多音字 for which the different pronunciations vary only by tone. This is because I find these type of 多音字 especially tricky.

Other posts with similarities/overlaps:
*There are some overlapping characters between this post and these other posts.

Characters Merged by Simplification

Cross-Strait Tone Differences

累

累 lèi - tired / weary / to strain / to wear out / to work hard

• 疲累 pílèi - tired / exhausted
• 劳累 láolèi tired / exhausted / worn out / to toil

累 lěi - to accumulate / to involve or implicate / continuous / repeated (TW pr. lèi in some words)

• 积累 jīlěi - to accumulate / accumulation / cumulative / cumulatively
• 拖累 tuōlěi - to encumber / to be a burden on / to implicate (TW pr. tuōlèi)

There are other meanings/pronunciations of 累, but I’m not including them because I am not familiar with them yet (one day maybe!).

鲜 | 鮮

鲜 | 鮮 xiān - fresh / bright (in color) / delicious / tasty / delicacy / aquatic foods / fish

• 新鲜 xīnxiān - fresh / freshness / novel / uncommon
• 海鲜 hǎixiān - seafood

鲜 | 鮮 xiǎn - few / rare 

• 朝鲜 cháoxiǎn - North Korea / Korea as geographic term (TW pr. cháoxiān)
• 鲜少 xiǎnshǎo - very few / rarely

分 | 份

分 fēn - to divide / to separate / to distribute / to allocate / to distinguish (good and bad) / part or subdivision / fraction / one tenth (of certain units) / unit of length equivalent to 0.33 cm / minute (unit of time) / minute (angular measurement unit) / a point (in sports or games) / 0.01 yuan (unit of money)

• 分别 fēnbié - to part or leave each other / to distinguish / difference / in different ways / differently / separately or individually
• 分析 fēnxī - to analyze / analysis
• 十分 shífēn - very / completely / utterly / extremely / absolutely / hundred percent / to divide into ten equal parts

分 | 份 fèn - part / share / ingredient / component
份 is a variant for this meaning.

• 部分 bùfen - part / share / section / piece (TW pr. bùfèn)
• 过分 guòfèn - excessive / undue / overly
• 天分 tiānfèn - natural gift / talent

间 | 間

间 jiān - between / among / within a definite time or space / room / section of a room or lateral space between two pairs of pillars / classifier for rooms

• 瞬间 shùnjiān - in an instant / in a flash
• 期间 qījiān - period of time / time / time period / period
• 民间 mínjiān - among the people / popular / folk / non-governmental / involving people rather than governments

间 jiàn - gap / to separate / to thin out (seedlings) / to sow discontent

• 间接 jiànjiē - indirect
• 间谍 jiàndié - spy
• 间断 jiànduàn - disconnected / interrupted / suspended / a gap / a break

卷 | 捲

卷 juǎn - to roll up / roll / classifier for small rolled things / to sweep up / to carry on / roll

卷 | 捲 juǎn - to roll (up) / to sweep up / to carry on / roll

Though listed separately in the dictionary, these two seem to be used interchangeably in many cases. I got a lot of search results for both 花卷 and 花捲, for instance.

• 花卷 huājuǎn - Chinese steamed twisted bread roll
• 卷发 juǎnfà - to curl hair (TW pr. juǎnfǎ)
• 春卷 chūnjuǎn - egg roll / spring roll

卷 juàn scroll / book / volume / chapter / examination paper / classifier for books, paintings: volume, scroll

• 问卷 wènjuàn - questionnaire
• 试卷 shìjuàn - examination paper / test paper
• 考卷 kǎojuàn - exam paper

冠

冠 guān - hat / crown / crest / cap

• 新冠病毒 xīnguānbìngdú - novel coronavirus {RIP, I am sad}
• 皇冠 huángguān - crown

冠 guàn - to put on a hat / to be first / to dub

• 冠军 guànjūn - champion
• 夺冠 duóguàn to seize the crown / to win a championship / to win gold medal

脏 | 髒/臟

脏 | 髒 zāng - dirty / filthy / to get (sth) dirty

• 脏话 zānghuà - profanity / obscene language / speaking rudely 
• 肮脏 āngzāng - dirty / filthy
• 弄脏 nòngzāng - to make dirty / to defile / to smear

脏 | 臟 zàng - viscera / (anatomy) organ

• 心脏 xīnzàng - heart
• 肝脏 gānzàng - liver
• 内脏 nèizàng - internal organs / viscera

少

少 shǎo - few / less / to lack / to be missing / to stop (doing sth) / seldom

• 至少 zhìshǎo - at least / (to say the) least
• 减少 jiǎnshǎo - to lessen / to decrease / to reduce / to lower
• 缺少 quēshǎo - lack / shortage of / shortfall / to be short (of) / to lack

少 shào - young

• 少年 shàonián - early youth / youngster / (literary) youth / young man
• 少林 shàolín - Shaolin monastery and martial arts school
• 少女 shàonǚ - girl / young lady

舍 | 捨

舍 | 捨 shě - to give up / to abandon / to give alms

• 舍不得 shěbude - to hate to do sth / to hate to part with / to begrudge
• 舍弃 shěqì - to give up / to abandon / to abort

舍 shè - residence

• 宿舍 sùshè - dormitory / dorm room / living quarters / hostel
• 舍友 shèyǒu - dormitory roommate

量

量 liáng - to measure

• 商量 shāngliang - to consult / to talk over / to discuss (TW pr. shāngliáng)
• 量体温 liángtǐwēn - to take sb’s temperature

量 liàng - capacity / quantity / amount / to estimate / measure word

• 质量 zhìliàng - quality / (physics) mass
• 胆量 dǎnliàng - courage / boldness / guts
  

背

背 bèi - the back of a body or object / to turn one’s back / to hide something from / to learn by heart / to recite from memory / unlucky (slang) / hard of hearing

• 背叛 bèipàn - to betray
• 背影 bèiyǐng - rear view / figure seen from behind / view of the back (of a person or object)
• 背景 bèijǐng - background / backdrop / context / (fig.) powerful backer

背 bēi - to be burdened / to carry on the back or shoulder

• 背包 bēibāo - knapsack / rucksack / infantry pack / field pack / blanket roll
• 背黑锅 bēihēiguō - to be made a scapegoat / to be unjustly blamed
• 背负 bēifù - to bear / to carry on one’s back / to shoulder

划 | 劃

划 | 劃 huà - to delimit / to transfer / to assign / to plan / to draw (a line) / stroke of a Chinese character

• 规划 guīhuà - to plan (how to do sth) / planning / plan / program
  
• 划分 huàfēn - to divide up / to partition / to differentiate

划 | 劃 huá - to cut / to slash / to scratch (cut into the surface of sth) / to strike (a match)

• 划痕 huáhén - a scratch
• 划过 huáguò - (of a meteor etc) to streak across (the sky) / (of a searchlight, lightning etc) to play across (the sky)

划 huá - to row / to paddle / profitable / worth (the effort) / it pays (to do sth)

• 划得来 huádelái - worth it / it pays to
• 划船 huáchuán - to row a boat / rowing boat / rowing (sport)

曲

曲 qū - bent / crooked / wrong / yeast / Aspergillus / (TW pr. qú in some words)

• 弯曲 wānqū - to bend / to curve around / curved / crooked / to wind / to warp
• 曲折 qūzhé - winding / (fig.) complicated
• 歪曲 wāiqū - to distort / to misrepresent

曲 qǔ - tune / song

• 歌曲 gēqǔ - song
• 编曲 biānqǔ - to compose (music) / arrangement
• 主题曲 zhǔtíqǔ - theme song

踏

踏 tà - to tread / to stamp / to step on / to press a pedal / to investigate on the spot

• 踏上 tàshàng - to set foot on / to step on or into
• 脚踏实地 jiǎotàshídì - to have one’s feet firmly planted on the ground (idiom); realistic without flights of fancy / steady and serious character

踏 tā - you will probably only hear this pronunciation in 踏实 (and this pronunciation doesn’t exist in TW to my knowledge)

• 踏实 tāshi - firmly-based / steady / steadfast / to have peace of mind / free from anxiety (TW pr. tàshí)
• 踏踏实实 tātāshíshí - steady / steadfast (TW pr. tàtàshíshí)

Have you ever been surfing a Taiwanese website and noticed that years are labeled completely differently? I was on some webpage last year and got so confused as to why I was seeing numbers like 75 and 100 for the year. What??

I somehow found my way to this Wikipedia article calledRepublic of China calendar or 民国纪年 in Chinese. Apparently this calendar is also referred to under other (similar) names such as 中华民国纪年 and 中华民国历.

The year 1 in the ROC calendar is 1912, the year the ROC was founded. So 2022 is the 111th year! Just add or subtract 1911 to convert between the Gregorian calendar and 民国纪年.

Since learning about this calendar, I’ve seen it pop up here and there on academic websites to mark the years people graduated or took a college entrance exam. You may very well never encounter this system in the wild, but if you do, now you’ll be prepared!

I wanted to find a real life example to display, so I went digging. I found the 民国纪年 on the website for 国立台湾大学哲学系 (NTU Philosophy Department).

See! For the year of these doctoral theses (博士论文), the table has 108, aka 2019.

Just goes to show that you really have to learn some stuff about culture and history when learning a language.

Check out part 1,part 2, and part 3.

Time for 20 more words I’ve noticed popping up in Mandopop songs! Combined with parts 1-3, that makes 80 words total that you can learn.

• 荒芜 huāngwú - left to return to unchecked growth / overgrown / grown wild
  这片土地依然荒芜。
• 颓废 tuífèi - decadent / dispirited / depressed / dejected
  最近她的情绪很颓废。
• 摧毁 cuīhuǐ - to destroy / to wreck
  风暴摧毁了好几座建筑。
• 环游 huányóu - to travel around (the world, a country etc)
  毕业后我想环游世界。
• 麻醉 mázuì - anesthesia / (fig.) to poison (sb’s mind)
  病人已经麻醉过了。
• 誓言 shìyán - to pledge / to promise / oath / vow
  你不能收回你的誓言。
• 往事 wǎngshì past events / former happenings
  童年的往事浮现在我眼前。
• 倔强 juéjiàng - stubborn / obstinate / unbending
  他从小性格特别倔强。
• 释放 shìfàng - to release / to set free / to liberate (a prisoner) / to discharge
  音乐是释放情感的好方法。
• 平行 píngxíng - parallel / of equal rank / simultaneous
  平行宇宙真的存在吗？
• 短暂 duǎnzàn - of short duration / brief / momentary (TW pr. duǎnzhàn)
  我们是多么渺小，我们的生命是多么短暂。
• 宿命 sùmìng - fate / predestination / karma
  你可以积极点，别那么迷信宿命！
• 脸颊 liǎnjiá - cheek
  泪珠沿着她的脸颊流下来。
• 反省 fǎnxǐng - to reflect upon oneself / to examine one’s conscience / to question oneself / to search one’s soul
  每一个人都应该常自我反省。
• 翻来覆去 fānláifùqù - to toss and turn (sleeplessly) / again and again
  我整夜在床上翻来覆去睡不着。
• ​​翱翔 áoxiáng - to soar / to wheel about in the sky
  老鹰在我们头顶的高空翱翔。
• 防备 fángbèi -to guard against
  他们事先没有一点儿防备。
• 好感 hǎogǎn - good opinion / favorable impression
  自从认识他以来，我渐渐对他产生了好感。
• 酒窝 jiǔwō - dimple
  她笑起来脸上有个酒窝。
• 诚恳 chéngkěn - sincere / honest / cordial
  他的话听起来不诚恳。

Something I haven’t done in past posts but thought would be fun to do this time is share some of the songs that I heard these words in! See them under the cut.

• 林俊杰 (JJ Lin) - 我继续
• 蔡健雅 (Tanya Chua) - 无底洞
• 沈以诚 (Eason Shen) - 杰克的酒窝
• 莫文蔚 (Karen Mok) - 因为所以
• 蔡健雅 (Tanya Chua) - 救生圈
• 孙盛希 (Shi Shi) - 恒温
• 蔡健雅 (Tanya Chua) - 深信不疑
• 周笔畅 (Bibi Zhou) - 黑苹果
• 张杰 (Jason Zhang) - 最美的太阳
• 蔡健雅 (Tanya Chua) - 再见
• 林宥嘉 (Yoga Lin) - 越反越爱
• 蔡健雅 (Tanya Chua) - 便利贴
• 韦礼安 (WeiBird) - 记得回来
• 梁静茹 (Fish Leong) - 燕尾蝶
• 蔡健雅 (Tanya Chua) - 坠落

Yes I am aware it is over 1/3 Tanya Chua songs. And here are some embedded music videos for the songs above :)

A Closer Look at Chinese Names

This post has been a long time coming. In spring 2020, I posted two of the most popular posts on this blog:

Reading Chinese Names: Female Names

Reading Chinese Names: Male Names

More recently I have wanted to revisit the idea behind those posts but with a different, more in-depth approach. I also made some decisions while compiling data for those posts that I now regret. So in late summer 2021, I set out to completely redo my data collection with the eventual goal of creating this very post.

About the Data

I will include more information about my data collection process at the end of this post for those interested.

I gathered 3,277 names (1602 male, 1675 female) from idol shows and groups. In the grand scheme of things, this is not a lot of names at all. But I think it’s enough that we can explore names, observe some generalities, and have fun! These names belong to individuals roughly 15-30 years old. Most names belong to individuals from Mainland China, but there are some Hong Konger and Taiwanese names as well.

Some of the name sources include:

• 偶像练习生/青春有你
• 创造101/创造营
• 明日之子
• 以团之名/少年之名
• SNH48
• 快乐女声/快乐男声
• 菱格世代DD52
• Various groups like 时代少年 and SING女团

I also wanted to note something important: the definitions I am using (via MDBG) are only the surface. For example, a name containing a character meaning jade might also have implications of beauty and virtue. So the meaning is more than just “jade.” However, it just isn’t practical to go into all the nitty gritty here. I encourage you to seek out more resources if you are interested.

Some Thanks

Thanks so much to @liu-anhuaming,@meichenxi, and my friend Tiffany for their help and advice during the process of creating this post! 非常感谢你们，你们是最棒的！

Given Names (Overall)

First let’s look at the most common characters for ALL the given names in the dataset. There were 1093 total unique characters across all the given names. I’m going to include more characters (almost rounding out the top 100) at the bottom of this post for those interested. There is also some information broken down by gender below.

Top Given Name Characters

1. 宇 yǔ - room, universe / 87
2. 子 zǐ - son, child, seed, egg, small thing, 1st earthly branch, midnight, 11th solar month, year of the Rat, fourth of five orders of nobility, ancient Chinese compass point / 82
3. 佳 jiā - beautiful, fine, good / 68
4. 雨 yǔ - rain / 63
5. 嘉 jiā - excellent, auspicious, to praise, to commend / 59
6. 文 wén - language, culture, writing, formal, literary, gentle / 58
7. 欣 xīn - happy / 55
8. 一 yī - one, 1, single, a (article), as soon as, entire, whole, all, throughout / 51
9. 俊 jùn - smart, eminent, handsome, talented / 51
10. 思 sī - to think, to consider / 49
11. 杰 jié - hero, heroic, outstanding person, prominent, distinguished / 49
12. 豪 háo - grand, heroic / 48
13. 怡 yí - harmony, pleased / 45
14. 天 tiān - day, sky, heaven / 44
15. 泽 zé - pool, pond, (of metals etc) luster, favor or beneficence, damp, moist / 43
16. 琪 qí - fine jade / 40
17. 婷 tíng - graceful / 39
18. 鑫 xīn - prosperity / 38
19. 晓 xiǎo - dawn, daybreak, to know, to let sb know, to make explicit / 35
20. 浩 hào - grand, vast (water) / 35
21. 晨 chén - morning, dawn, daybreak / 34
22. 恩 ēn - favor, grace, kindness / 33
23. 博 bó - extensive, ample, rich, obtain, aim, to win, to get, plentiful / 32
24. 慧 huì - intelligent / 32
25. 明 míng - bright, clear, to understand, wise / 32
26. 轩 xuān - pavilion with a view, high, tall / 32
27. 辰 chén - 5th earthly branch, 3rd solar month, year of the Dragon, ancient Chinese compass point / 32

Top Given Name Characters (Female)

1. 佳 jiā - beautiful, fine, good / 56
2. 雨 yǔ - rain / 50
3. 欣 xīn - happy / 49
4. 怡 yí - harmony, pleased / 44
5. 婷 tíng - graceful / 39
6. 嘉 jiā - excellent, auspicious, to praise, to commend / 37
7. 琪 qí - fine jade / 35
8. 思 sī - to think, to consider / 33
9. 慧 huì - intelligent / 31
10. 梦 mèng - dream, to dream / 30

Top Given Name Characters (Male)

1. 宇 yǔ - room, universe / 68
2. 子 zǐ - son, child, seed, egg, small thing, 1st earthly branch, midnight, 11th solar month, year of the Rat, fourth of five orders of nobility, ancient Chinese compass point / 55
3. 豪 háo - grand, heroic / 48
4. 杰 jié - hero, heroic, outstanding person, prominent, distinguished / 47
5. 俊 jùn - smart, eminent, handsome, talented / 45
6. 泽 zé - pool, pond, (of metals etc) luster, favor or beneficence, damp, moist / 38
7. 浩 hào - grand, vast (water) / 35
8. 一 yī - one, 1, single, a (article), as soon as, entire, whole, all, throughout / 34
9. 文 wén - language, culture, writing, formal, literary, gentle / 32
10. 明 míng - bright, clear, to understand, wise / 27

Single-Character Names (单名)

There were 668 single-character names, which is about 20% of the total names. I know that 单名 are pretty rare in Taiwan (I’m not sure about Hong Kong), so that’s something to keep in mind. More of the top 单名 are at the bottom of this post.

Top Single-Character Names

1. 鑫 xīn - prosperity / 12
2. 欣 xīn - happy / 10
3. 洋 yáng - ocean, vast, foreign, silver dollar or coin / 9
4. 静 jìng - still, calm, quiet, not moving / 7
5. 丹 dān - red, pellet, powder, cinnabar / 6
6. 娜 nà - graceful, elegant, beautiful / 6
7. 恩 ēn - favor, grace, kindness / 6
8. 敏 mǐn - quick, nimble, agile, clever, smart / 6
9. 昕 xīn - dawn / 6
10. 雪 xuě - snow / 6
11. 颖 yǐng - head of grain, husk, tip, point, clever, gifted, outstanding / 6

Female Single-Character Names

1. 欣 xīn - happy / 9
2. 鑫 xīn - prosperity / 8
3. 静 jìng - still, calm, quiet, not moving / 7
4. 丹 dān - red, pellet, powder, cinnabar / 6
5. 娜 nà - graceful, elegant, beautiful / 6
6. 敏 mǐn - quick, nimble, agile, clever, smart / 6
7. 雪 xuě - snow / 6
8. 倩 qiàn - pretty, winsome / 5
9. 洁 jié - clean / 5
10. 颖 yǐng - head of grain, husk, tip, point, clever, gifted, outstanding / 5

Male Single-Character Names

1. 洋 yáng - ocean, vast, foreign, silver dollar or coin / 7
2. 恩 ēn - favor, grace, kindness / 5
3. 杰 jié - hero, heroic, outstanding person, prominent, distinguished / 5
4. 宇 yǔ - room, universe / 4
5. 浩 hào - grand, vast (water) / 4
6. 涛 tāo - big wave / 4 (Taiwan pr. táo)
7. 硕 shuò - large, big / 4
8. 磊 lěi - lumpy, rock pile, uneven, sincere, open and honest / 4
9. 立 lì - to stand, to set up, to establish, to lay down, to draw up, at once, immediately / 4
10. 耀 yào - brilliant, glorious / 4
11. 聪 cōng - wise, clever, sharp-witted, intelligent, acute, quick at hearing / 4
12. 超 chāo - to exceed, to overtake, to surpass, to transcend, to pass, to cross, ultra, super / 4
13. 鑫 xīn - prosperity / 4
14. 鹏 péng - large fabulous bird / 4

Two-Character Names (双名)

For the lists below, I removed all 单名 and just looked at 双名 characters. One of the things I was most excited to examine in this post was what characters tend to be found in the first vs. second positions. As you will see reflected below, some common characters used in names tend to occur more in one position, like 子 which is more prevalent in the first position. Others are more balanced. I bolded characters appearing in both positions.

Additional top 双名 can be found at the end of this post.

Top Two-Character Names

1. 俊杰 jùnjié / 7
2. 佳怡 jiāyí / 5
3. 嘉欣 jiāxīn / 5
4. 天宇 tiānyǔ / 5
5. 浩然 hàorán / 5
6. 婷婷 tíngtíng / 4
7. 子杰 zǐjié / 4
8. 安琪 ānqí / 4

Top First Characters

1. 子 zǐ - son, child, seed, egg, small thing, 1st earthly branch, midnight, 11th solar month, year of the Rat, fourth of five orders of nobility, ancient Chinese compass point / 72
2. 嘉 jiā - excellent, auspicious, to praise, to commend / 49
3. 佳 jiā - beautiful, fine, good / 48
4. 思 sī - to think, to consider / 44
5. 一 yī - one, 1, single, a (article), as soon as, entire, whole, all, throughout / 40
6. 俊 jùn - smart, eminent, handsome, talented / 40
7. 雨 yǔ - rain / 36
8. 天 tiān - day, sky, heaven / 34
9. 宇 yǔ -room, universe / 34
10. 晓 xiǎo - dawn, daybreak, to know, to let sb know, to make explicit / 34

Top Second Characters

1. 宇 yǔ - room, universe / 48
2. 豪 háo - grand, heroic / 45
3. 杰 jié - hero, heroic, outstanding person, prominent, distinguished / 41
4. 琪 qí - fine jade / 34
5. 文 wén - language, culture, writing, formal, literary, gentle / 32
6. 怡 yí - harmony, pleased / 30
7. 婷 tíng - graceful / 29
8. 轩 xuān - pavilion with a view, high, tall / 27
9. 辰 chén - 5th earthly branch, 3rd solar month, year of the Dragon, ancient Chinese compass point / 26
10. 欣 xīn - happy / 23
11. 涵 hán - to contain, to include, culvert / 23
12. 雨 yǔ - rain / 23

Female First Characters

1. 佳 jiā - beautiful, fine, good / 38
2. 嘉 jiā - excellent, auspicious, to praise, to commend / 31
3. 思 sī - to think, to consider / 29
4. 雨 yǔ - rain / 27
5. 晓 xiǎo - dawn, daybreak, to know, to let sb know, to make explicit / 26
6. 诗 shī - poem, poetry, verse / 24
7. 梦 mèng - dream, to dream / 22
8. 小 xiǎo - small, tiny, few, young / 20
9. 欣 xīn - happy / 19
10. 雅 yǎ - elegant / 19

Female Second Characters

1. 琪 qí - fine jade / 30
2. 婷 tíng - graceful / 29
3. 怡 yí - harmony, pleased / 29
4. 欣 xīn - happy / 21
5. 雨 yǔ - rain / 21
6. 君 jūn - monarch, lord, gentleman, ruler / 19
7. 慧 huì - intelligent / 18
8. 涵 hán - to contain, to include, culvert / 18
9. 瑶 yáo - jade, precious stone, mother-of-pearl, nacre, precious / 17
10. 莹 yíng - luster of gems / 16

Male First Characters

1. 子 zǐ - son, child, seed, egg, small thing, 1st earthly branch, midnight, 11th solar month, year of the Rat, fourth of five orders of nobility, ancient Chinese compass point / 54
2. 俊 jùn - smart, eminent, handsome, talented / 35
3. 一 yī - one, 1, single, a (article), as soon as, entire, whole, all, throughout / 26
4. 浩 hào - grand, vast (water) / 24
5. 泽 zé - pool, pond, (of metals etc) luster, favor or beneficence, damp, moist / 22
6. 宇 yǔ - room, universe / 20
7. 明 míng - bright, clear, to understand, wise / 20
8. 天 tiān - day, sky, heaven / 19
9. 嘉 jiā - excellent, auspicious, to praise, to commend / 18
10. 柏 bó - cedar, cypress / 17

Male Second Characters

1. 豪 háo - grand, heroic / 45
2. 宇 yǔ - room, universe / 44
3. 杰 jié - hero, heroic, outstanding person, prominent, distinguished / 40
4. 轩 xuān - pavilion with a view, high, tall / 21
5. 辰 chén - 5th earthly branch, 3rd solar month, year of the Dragon, ancient Chinese compass point / 20
6. 翔 xiáng - to soar, to glide / 19
7. 文 wén - language, culture, writing, formal, literary, gentle / 17
8. 霖 lín - continued rain / 17
9. 铭 míng - to engrave, inscribed motto / 15
10. 泽 zé - pool, pond, (of metals etc) luster, favor or beneficence, damp, moist / 14
11. 鑫 xīn - prosperity / 14
12. 龙 lóng - dragon, imperial / 14

Comparing Characters by Position

After examining the most popular characters by position, I was curious to look more specifically at which characters appear in one position but not the other. In this section I decided not to include lists separated by gender because it was getting to be too much information.

Exclusively First Characters

Below are the top characters that never appeared in the second position.

1. 晓 xiǎo - dawn, daybreak, to know, to let sb know, to make explicit / 34
2. 小 xiǎo - small, tiny, few, young / 24
3. 紫 zǐ - purple, violet / 16
4. 美 měi - beautiful, very satisfactory, good, to beautify, to be pleased with oneself / 15
5. 若 ruò - to seem, like, as if / 14
6. 智 zhì - wisdom, knowledge / 13
7. 书 shū - book, letter, document, to write / 11
8. 婉 wǎn - graceful, tactful / 11
9. 振 zhèn - to shake, to flap, to vibrate, to resonate, to rise up with spirit, to rouse oneself / 11
10. 永 yǒng - forever, always, perpetual / 11
11. 秋 qiū - autumn, fall, harvest time / 11

Largest Deltas (First Position)

I also wanted to see characters that were found in both positions but for which there was a big difference in occurrence. I bolded characters that appeared both here and in the list above.

The math is formatted:
# times first position - # times second position = difference

1. 子 zǐ - son, child, seed, egg, small thing, 1st earthly branch, midnight, 11th solar month, year of the Rat, fourth of five orders of nobility, ancient Chinese compass point / 72 - 10 = 62
2. 思 sī - to think, to consider / 44 - 4 = 40
3. 嘉 jiā - excellent, auspicious, to praise, to commend / 49 - 10 = 39
4. 晓 xiǎo - dawn, daybreak, to know, to let sb know, to make explicit / 34 - 0 = 34
5. 佳 jiā - beautiful, fine, good / 48 - 15 = 33
6. 一 yī - one, 1, single, a (article), as soon as, entire, whole, all, throughout / 40 - 9 = 31
7. 俊 jùn - smart, eminent, handsome, talented / 40 - 9 = 31
8. 天 tiān - day, sky, heaven / 34 - 7 = 27
9. 小 xiǎo - small, tiny, few, young / 24 - 0 = 24
10. 诗 shī - poem, poetry, verse / 24 - 2 = 22

Exclusively Second Characters

1. 豪 háo - grand, heroic / 45
2. 霖 lín - continued rain / 22
3. 然 rán - correct, right, so, thus, like this / 20
4. 琦 qí - curio, valuable stone / 17
5. 仪 yí - apparatus, rites, appearance, present, ceremony / 14
6. 航 háng - boat, ship, craft, to navigate, to sail, to fly / 13
7. 晴 qíng - clear, fine (weather) / 12
8. 萱 xuān - orange day-lily / 12
9. 帆 fān - sail, to gallop / 11 (Taiwan pr. fán)
10. 璇 xuán - jade / 9

Largest Deltas (Second Position)

1. 豪 háo - grand, heroic / 45 - 0 = 45
2. 杰 jié - hero, heroic, outstanding person, prominent, distinguished / 41 - 3 = 38
3. 琪 qí - fine jade / 34 - 2 = 32
4. 婷 tíng - graceful / 29 - 6 = 23
5. 辰 chén - 5th earthly branch, 3rd solar month, year of the Dragon, ancient Chinese compass point / 26 - 3 = 23
6. 轩 xuān - pavilion with a view, high, tall / 27 - 5 = 22
7. 霖 lín - continued rain / 22 - 0 = 22
8. 涵 hán - to contain, to include, culvert / 23 - 2 = 21
9. 然 rán - correct, right, so, thus, like this / 20 - 0 = 20
10. 怡 yí - harmony, pleased / 30 - 13 = 17
11. 君 jūn - monarch, lord, gentleman, ruler / 22 - 5 = 17
12. 琦 qí - curio, valuable stone / 17 - 0 = 17

Gender Associations of Characters

This section is more experimental and exploratory. There are probably better ways to examine the gender association for characters, but I just wanted to take a quick look for fun, not develop a whole new analysis technique.

Gender Neutral Characters

Here I simply took the average of the ranks of each character for male names and female names. If a character was only found in male names or only found in female names, it would just end up with the overall rank of N/A.

The math is formatted:
(Female names rank + male names rank) ÷ 2 = average rank

1. 子 zǐ - son, child, seed, egg, small thing, 1st earthly branch, midnight, 11th solar month, year of the Rat, fourth of five orders of nobility, ancient Chinese compass point
   (12th + 2nd) ÷ 2 = 7th (82 times)
2. 嘉 jiā - excellent, auspicious, to praise, to commend
   (6th + 18th) ÷ 2 = 12th (59 times)
3. 文 wén - language, culture, writing, formal, literary, gentle
   (15th + 9th) ÷ 2 = 12th (58 times)
4. 宇 yǔ - room, universe
   (30th + 1st) ÷ 2 = 15.5th (87 times)
5. 思 sī - to think, to consider
   (8th + 29th) ÷ 2 = 18.5th (49 times)
6. 一 yī - one, 1, single, a (article), as soon as, entire, whole, all, throughout
   (34th + 8th) ÷ 2 = 21st (51 times)
7. 天 tiān - day, sky, heaven
   (31st + 12th) ÷ 2 = 21.5th (44 times)
8. 雨 yǔ - rain
   (2nd + 45th) ÷ 2 = 23.5th (63 times)
9. 佳 jiā - beautiful, fine, good
   (1st + 47th) ÷ 2 = 24th (68 times)
10. 恩 ēn - favor, grace, kindness
    (37th + 30th) ÷ 2 = 33.5th (33 times)

Female-Leaning Characters

For this section, I looked at characters in female names that did not appear in male names. This isn’t a perfect technique, but I think it is still interesting to see the results.

1. 婷 tíng - graceful / 5th (39 times)
2. 诗 shī - poem, poetry, verse / 16th (26 times)
3. 静 jìng - still, calm, quiet, not moving / 18th (23 times)
4. 莹 yíng - luster of gems / 28th (20 times)
5. 丽 lì - beautiful / 29th (19 times)
6. 依 yī - to depend on, to comply with or listen to sb, according to, in the light of / 35th (17 times)
7. 妍 yán - beautiful / 36th (17 times)
8. 媛 yuán - beautiful / 40th (16 times)
9. 月 yuè - moon, month / 41st (16 times)
10. 紫 zǐ - purple, violet / 43rd (16 times)

Male-Leaning Characters

Likewise, for this section I chose characters that appeared in male names but not female names. I actually know women with 龙 and 伟 in their names, so it’s important to remember that leaning male =/= only found in men’s names. There are always exceptions!

1. 豪 háo - grand, heroic / 3rd (48 times)
2. 浩 hào - grand, vast (water) / 7th (35 times)
3. 龙 lóng - dragon, imperial / 28th (17 times)
4. 伟 wěi - big, large, great / 36th (14 times)
5. 峻 jùn - (of mountains) high, harsh or severe / 38th (13 times)
6. 耀 yào - brilliant, glorious / 42nd (13 times)
7. 钧 jūn - 30 catties, great, your (honorific) / 44th (13 times)
8. 成 chéng - to succeed, to finish, to complete, to accomplish, to become, to turn into, to be all right, one tenth / 48th (12 times)
9. 振 zhèn - to shake, to flap, to vibrate, to resonate, to rise up with spirit, to rouse oneself / 53rd (11 times)
10. 飞 fēi - to fly / 54th (11 times)

While looking at gender was fun, in the future I’d really like to look at tones/tone combinations, open vs. close syllables, and more. I’m still thinking about the best way to do this.

Surnames

Since surname rankings are actually known, I thought it would be interesting to briefly compare my dataset to the true populations.

Top Surnames

1. 李 Lǐ / 240
2. 王 Wáng / 206
3. 张 Zhāng / 186
4. 陈 Chén / 173
5. 刘 Liú / 147
6. 杨 Yáng / 94
7. 林 Lín / 91
8. 黄 Huáng / 88
9. 周 Zhōu / 69
10. 徐 Xú / 66

Mainland Top Surnames

1. 李 Lǐ
2. 王 Wáng
3. 张 Zhāng
4. 刘 Liú
5. 陈 Chén
6. 杨 Yáng
7. 赵 Zhào
8. 黄 Huáng
9. 周 Zhōu
10. 吴 Wú

Taiwan Top Surnames

1. 陈 Chén
2. 林 Lín
3. 黄 Huáng
4. 张 Zhāng
5. 李 Lǐ
6. 王 Wáng
7. 吴 Wú
8. 刘 Liú
9. 蔡 Cài
10. 杨 Yáng

What stood out to me most was 林 making #7 on my list. I suspect this is due to the inclusion of Taiwanese names. In Mainland China it actually ranks around #16 I believe. 赵 didn’t make the top 10, but I think it was actually #11, so that’s not too far off.

About the Data Cont’

For my original posts 1.5 years ago, I had difficulty maintaining a gender balance and decided to add male names from other types of sources as a supplement. I have since regretted that choice, so this time I worked hard to maintain balance without using unrelated sources. One result of this is that there are names in the original dataset that do not appear in this dataset, so even though the new dataset has more names, it’s possible that there could be fewer occurrences of some characters.

I did my best to remove duplicate individuals (not duplicate names!) and remove stage names that do not sound like real names (or replace them with real names). However, I did not try to swap out all stage names for birth names because that would have been too difficult and time consuming. I also made the assumption that any four-character name could be segmented into two surname characters and two given name characters.

It’s important to note that these names are not necessarily representative of the 15-30 population as a whole. Idols or trainees might change their names to something sounding more cool or hip, and like I mentioned, it simply wasn’t feasible for me to find everyone’s birth name. And my data collection didn’t take into account things like geography/population spread or keep track of ages (but I did for the most part avoid any shows older than 5 years and groups with members 30+).

Extended Lists

Top Given Name Characters

28 星 xīng - star, heavenly body / 31
29 梦 mèng - dream, to dream / 31
30 倩 qiàn - pretty, winsome / 29
31 涵 hán - to contain, to include, culvert / 29
32 艺 yì - skill, art / 29
33 雅 yǎ - elegant / 29
34 雪 xuě - snow / 29
35 君 jūn - monarch, lord, gentleman, ruler / 28
36 翔 xiáng - to soar, to glide / 27
37 霖 lín - continued rain / 27
38 哲 zhé - wise, a sage / 26
39 梓 zǐ - Catalpa kaempferi (type of tree), printing blocks / 26
40 羽 yǔ - feather, 5th note in pentatonic scale / 26
41 诗 shī - poem, poetry, verse / 26
42 凯 kǎi - triumphant, victorious / 25
43 家 jiā - home, family / 24
44 小 xiǎo - small, tiny, few, young / 24
45 洋 yáng - ocean, vast, foreign, silver dollar or coin / 24
46 铭 míng - to engrave, inscribed motto / 24
47 奕 yì - abundant, graceful / 23
48 柏 bó - cedar, cypress / 23
49 静 jìng - still, calm, quiet, not moving / 23
50 馨 xīn - fragrant / 23
51 丹 dān - red, pellet, powder, cinnabar / 22
52 安 ān - content, calm, still, quiet, safe, secure, in good health, to pacify, to harbor (good intentions), security, safety, peace / 22
53 洁 jié - clean / 22
54 然 rán - correct, right, so, thus, like this / 22
55 瑶 yáo - jade, precious stone, mother-of-pearl, nacre, precious / 22
56 心 xīn - heart, mind, intention, center, core / 21
57 扬 yáng - to raise, to hoist, scattering (in the wind), to flutter / 21
58 玉 yù - jade / 21
59 阳 yáng - sun, male principle / 21
60 源 yuán - root, source, origin / 20
61 琦 qí - curio, valuable stone / 20
62 瑞 ruì - lucky, auspicious, propitious, rayl / 20
63 莹 yíng - luster of gems / 20
64 丽 lì - beautiful / 19
65 宁 níng - peaceful, to pacify / 19
66 语 yǔ - dialect, language, speech / 19
67 云 yún - cloud / 18
68 敏 mǐn - quick, nimble, agile, clever, smart / 18
69 琳 lín - gem / 18
70 睿 ruì - astute, perspicacious, farsighted / 18
71 菲 fēi - luxuriant (plant growth), rich with fragrance / 18
72 辉 huī - splendor, to shine upon / 18
73 颖 yǐng - head of grain, husk, tip, point, clever, gifted, outstanding / 18
74 依 yī - to depend on, to comply with or listen to sb, according to, in the light of / 17
75 妍 yán - beautiful / 17
76 希 xī - to hope, to admire / 17
77 昊 hào - vast and limitless, the vast sky / 17
78 超 chāo - to exceed, to overtake, to surpass, to transcend, to pass, to cross, ultra, super / 17
79 龙 lóng - dragon, imperial / 17
80 东 dōng - east , host / 16
81 凡 fán - ordinary, commonplace, mundane, temporal, of the mortal world, all, whatever, altogether, gist, outline, note of Chinese musical scale / 16
82 媛 yuán - beautiful / 16
83 宏 hóng - great, magnificent / 16
84 志 zhì - aspiration, ambition, the will / 16
85 昕 xīn - dawn / 16
86 月 yuè - moon, month / 16
87 瑜 yú - excellence, luster of gems / 16
88 紫 zǐ - purple, violet / 16
89 航 háng - boat, ship, craft, to navigate, to sail, to fly / 16
90 钰 yù - treasure, hard metal / 16
91 雯 wén - multicolored clouds / 16
92 元 yuán - currency unit, first, original, primary, fundamental, constituent, part, era / 15
93 廷 tíng - palace courtyard / 15
94 承 chéng - to bear, to carry, to hold, to continue, to undertake, to take charge, owing to, due to, to receive / 15
95 晴 qíng - clear, fine (weather) / 15
96 美 měi - beautiful, very satisfactory, good, to beautify, to be pleased with oneself / 15
97 言 yán - words, speech, to say, to talk / 15
98 逸 yì - to escape, leisurely, outstanding / 15

Top Single-Character Names

12 佳 jiā - beautiful, fine, good / 5
13 倩 qiàn - pretty, winsome / 5
14 凡 fán - ordinary, commonplace, mundane, temporal, of the mortal world, all, whatever, altogether, gist, outline, note of Chinese musical scale / 5
15 宇 yǔ - room, universe / 5
16 帅 shuài - handsome, graceful, smart, commander in chief / 5
17 悦 yuè - pleased / 5
18 杰 jié - hero, heroic, outstanding person, prominent, distinguished / 5
19 洁 jié - clean / 5
20 聪 cōng - wise, clever, sharp-witted, intelligent, acute, quick at hearing / 5
21 萌 méng - to sprout, to bud / 5
22 霖 lín - continued rain / 5

Top Two-Character Names

9 丽娜 lìnà / 3
10 丹妮 dānnī / 3
11 佳慧 jiāhuì / 3
12 佳欣 jiāxīn / 3
13 依依 yīyī / 3
14 俊毅 jùnyì / 3
15 博文 bówén / 3
16 嘉宝 jiābǎo / 3
17 嘉怡 jiāyí / 3
18 媛媛 yuányuán / 3
19 子铭 zǐmíng / 3
20 子龙 zǐlóng / 3
21 家豪 jiāháo / 3
22 心怡 xīnyí / 3
23 心雨 xīnyǔ / 3
24 思佳 sījiā / 3
25 思雨 sīyǔ / 3
26 晨曦 chénxī / 3
27 梓豪 zǐháo / 3
28 梦瑶 mèngyáo / 3
29 欣妤 xīnyú / 3
30 浩宇 hàoyǔ / 3
31 美琪 měiqí /3
32 诗琪 shīqí / 3
33 雨晴 yǔqíng / 3
34 雨航 yǔháng / 3
35 雪莹 xuěyíng / 3
36 静怡 jìngyí / 3

Well, if you made it to the end, congratulations! You are a brave soul. But seriously, thanks so much for reading all of this monster of a post. I hope you leave knowing at least a bit more about Chinese names.

I remembering seeing this music video pop up in my recommendations on YouTube back in middle school. It was everywhere, but I don’t think I ever clicked on it! A song called “Rainie Love” just didn’t appeal to me. Finally this year after seeing Rainie Yang on 乘风破浪的姐姐2 and seeing Li Ronghao (her husband) on 青春有你3, I thought I should listen to this iconic song. I was pleasantly surprised—the song isn’t groundbreaking or anything, but it has more umph to it than a plain piano ballad. Seems like it would be fun for a karaoke night too.

杨丞琳 (Rainie Yang) - 雨爱

窗外的天气 就像是你多变的表情
下雨了 雨陪我哭泣
看不清 我也不想看清

多变 duōbiàn - fickle / frequently-changing

离开你 我安静的抽离
不忍揭晓的剧情
我的泪流在心里 学会放弃

抽离 chōulí - to remove / to step back from involvement / to disengage
不忍 bùrěn - cannot bear to / disturbed
揭晓 jiēxiǎo - to announce publicly / to publish / to make known / to disclose
剧情 jùqíng - storyline / plot / drama (genre)

听雨的声音 一滴滴清晰
你的呼吸像雨滴渗入我的爱里
真希望雨能下不停
让想念继续 让爱变透明
我爱上给我勇气的 Rainie Love

清晰 qīngxī - clear / distinct
渗入 shènrù - to permeate

窗外的雨滴 一滴滴累积
屋内的湿气像储存爱你的记忆
真希望雨能下不停
雨爱的秘密 能一直延续
我相信我将会看到彩虹的美丽

累积 lěijī - to accumulate
湿气 shīqì - moisture / humidity
储存 chǔcún | chúcún - stockpile / to store / to stockpile / storage

冷冷的空气 很窒息我无法呼吸
一万颗 雨滴的距离
很彻底 让爱消失无息

窒息 zhìxī | zhìxí - to choke / to stifle / to suffocate
无息 wúxī | wúxí - uninterrupted / continuous / without a sound

离开你 我安静的抽离
不忍揭晓的剧情
我的泪流在心里 学会放弃

听雨的声音 一滴滴清晰
你的呼吸像雨滴渗入我的爱里
真希望雨能下不停
让想念继续 让爱变透明
我爱上给我勇气的 Rainie Love

窗外的雨滴 一滴滴累积
屋内的湿气像储存爱你的记忆
真希望雨能下不停
雨爱的秘密 能一直延续
我相信我将会看到彩虹的美丽

屋内的湿气像储存爱你的记忆
真希望雨能下不停
雨爱的秘密 能一直延续
我相信我将会看到彩虹的美丽

In your Chinese studies you’ve probably learned: 红色、橙色、黄色、绿色、蓝色、紫色、灰色、白色、黑色、咖啡色、粉红色

But there are so many beautiful colors out there! Let’s learn some more. These are color terms I’ve come across outside Chinese class.

In general you can indicate a light shade with 浅 and a dark shade with 深. I have also seen 墨 for dark and 淡 for light, but when I Googled various color terms, there were more results for 浅 and 深 than 淡 and 墨.

I spent way too much time messing with HTML to color the text to match (except for the shades of white).

• 褐色 hèsè - brown
• 橘黄色 júhuángsè - orange
• 奶油色 nǎiyóusè - cream
• 金黄色 jīnhuángsè - gold color
• 朱红色 zhūhóngsè - vermilion
• 米色 mǐsè - beige
• 棕色 zōngsè - brown
• 青色 qīngsè - cyan / blue-green
• 灰白 huībái - light gray / ash-colored
• 蔚蓝 wèilán - azure / sky blue
• 纯白 chúnbái - pure white
• 雪白 xuěbái - snow white
• 洁白 jiébái - spotlessly white / pure white
• 漆黑 qīhēi - pitch-black
• 铜色 tóngsè - copper
• 乌黑 wūhēi - jet-black / dark
• 靛色 diànsè - indigo (color)
• 金色 jīnsè - golden / gold (color)
• 银色 yínsè - silver (color)

Here are some single characters I’ve seen as well. Some of these are commonly used in names, like 彤 and 丹.

• 彤 tóng - red
• 丹 dān - red / pellet / powder / cinnabar
• 缇 tí - orange-red silk / orange-red colored
• 赤 chì - red / scarlet / bare / naked
• 碧 bì - green jade / bluish green / blue / jade
• 翠 cuì - bluish-green / green jade
• 皓 hào - bright / luminous / white (esp. bright white teeth of youth or white hair of old age)
• 颢 hào - bright / white
• 玄 xuán - black / mysterious

彤, 丹, and 缇 are all described as a red-orange color. I’m not really sure of the difference, so I just made them all the same shade. I’m also unclear on exact distinction between 褐色 and 棕色. Image search results certainly suggest that they are used differently. Not sure how 咖啡色 fits in either.

I stumbled across this giant Wikipedia table with many beautiful colors that you can check out to learn more!

Eason Chan is an iconic Hong Kong singer with many Cantopop and Mandopop albums. I first heard this song on Youth With You 3 when it was covered in the first performance round. Honestly I didn’t think their cover was that good…but I could tell instantly that I would like the original version of the song. I guess that says a lot about the quality of this song! It’s a rock song that starts somber and slow but then quickly builds. Sadly this song isn’t on US Spotify (there are covers though, as well as another great Eason Chan song with a title that has a similar vibe 《陪你度过漫长岁月》). Really the only flaw is that it’s a short song at only a bit over 3 minutes, so I’m always left wishing it were longer!

陈奕迅 (Eason Chan) - 让我留在你身边

我从来不说话
因为我害怕 没有人回答
我从来不挣扎
因为我知道 这世界太大

挣扎 zhēngzhá - to struggle

太多时间浪费 太多事要面对 太多已无所谓
太多难辨真伪太多纷扰是非在你身边是谁

辨 biàn - to distinguish / to recognize
真伪 zhēnwěi - true or bogus / authenticity
纷扰 fēnrǎo - turmoil / unrest / disturbance
是非 shìfēi - right and wrong / quarrel

最渺小的我 有大大的梦
时间向前走 一定只有路口没有尽头
纷纷扰扰这个世界 所有的了解
只要 让我留在你身边

渺小 miǎoxiǎo - minute / tiny / negligible / insignificant

最渺小的我 有大大的梦
我愿意安静的活在每个有你的角落
如果生活还有什么 会让你难过
别怕 让我留在你身边 都陪你度过

度过 dùguò - to pass / to spend (time) / to survive / to get through

最渺小的我 最卑微的梦
我发现这世界没有那么那么的不同
现实如果对你不公别计较太多
走吧暴风雨后的彩虹

卑微 bēiwēi - lowly / humble
不公 bùgōng - unjust / unfair
计较 jìjiào - to bother about / to haggle / to bicker / to argue / plan / stratagem
暴风雨 bàofēngyǔ - rainstorm / storm / tempest

也许会落空也许会普通
也许这庸庸碌碌的黑白世界你不懂
生命中所有的路口 绝不是尽头
别怕 让我留在你身边 都陪你度过

落空 luòkōng - to fail / to fall through / to come to nothing
庸庸碌碌 yōngyōnglùlù - ordinary / mediocre

linghxr:

Lately I have been paying more attention to characters that are pronounced differently between the Mainland and Taiwan. This list is definitely not comprehensive, but I wanted to gather the differences I’ve noticed in my own studies. The format below is: Mainland pronunciation | Taiwan pronunciation. I’ve also listed some words containing the characters in question.

究 jiū | jiù - after all / to investigate / to study carefully

研究 yánjiū | yánjiù - research / a study / to research / to look into
讲究 jiǎngjiu | 講究 jiǎngjiù - to pay particular attention to / carefully selected for quality / tastefully chosen
究竟 jiūjìng | jiùjìng - to go to the bottom of a matter / after all / when all is said and done / finally / outcome / result

质 zhì | 質 zhí - character / nature / quality / plain / to pawn / pledge / hostage / to question
*In Taiwanese Mandarin, 質 is pronounced zhì when meaning to pawn / hostage, like the word 人質.

质量 zhìliàng | 質量 zhíliàng - quality / mass
本质 běnzhì | 本質 běnzhí - essence / nature / innate character / intrinsic quality
质疑 zhìyí | 質疑 zhíyí - to call into question / to question (truth or validity)

识 shí | 識 shì - to know / knowledge

知识 zhīshi | 知識 zhīshì - knowledge / intellectual
意识 yìshí | 意識 yìshì - consciousness / awareness / to be aware / to realize
认识 rènshi | 認識 rènshì - to know / to recognize / to be familiar with / to get acquainted with sb / knowledge / understanding / awareness / cognition

企 qǐ | qì - to plan a project / to stand on tiptoe

企业 qǐyè | 企業 qìyè - company / firm / enterprise / corporation
企图 qǐtú | 企圖 qìtú - to attempt / to try / attempt
企鹅 qǐ’é | 企鵝 qì’é - penguin

息 xī | xí - breath / news / interest (on an investment or loan) / to cease / to stop / to rest

消息 xiāoxi | xiāoxí - news / information
利息 lìxī | lìxí - interest (on a loan)
信息 xìnxī | xìnxí - information / news / message

危 wēi | wéi - danger / to endanger

危机 wēijī | 危機 wéijī - crisis
危害 wēihài | wéihài - to jeopardize / to harm / to endanger / harmful effect / damage
危险 wēixiǎn | 危險 wéixiǎn - danger / dangerous

突 tū | tú - to dash / to move forward quickly / to bulge / to protrude / to break through / to rush out / sudden

突然 tūrán | túrán - sudden / abrupt / unexpected
突出 tūchū | túchū - prominent / outstanding / to give prominence to / to protrude / to project
突破 tūpò | túpò - to break through / to make a breakthrough / to surmount (an obstacle)

Keep reading

Here’s an update to my original post with 25(!!!) more tone differences. The definitions are from MDBG with a few modifications here and there. I find these soooo interesting, but the one problem is that now I’m sometimes getting confused about which pronunciation to use. So proceed with caution!

差 chà | chā - to differ from / to fall short of / lacking / wrong / inferior
In Mainland China, 差 can be pronounced chā, but the meaning is different:
差 chā - difference / discrepancy / to differ / error / to err / to make a mistake
I guess the two definitions are essentially merged in Taiwanese Mandarin. This honestly sounds great because I often get confused between 差 chà and 差 chā.

相差 xiāngchà | xiāngchā- to differ / discrepancy between
差不多 chàbuduō | chābuduō- almost / nearly / more or less / about the same / good enough / not bad 
差点 chàdiǎn | 差點 chādiǎn - almost / nearly

挨 ái | āi - to suffer / to endure / to pull through (hard times) / to delay / to stall / to play for time / to dawdle
This is another example where in the Mainland, the character has multiple pronunciations with different meanings:
挨 āi in order / in sequence / close to / adjacent to
But there is only one pronunciation in Taiwanese Mandarin.

挨打 áidǎ | āidǎ - to take a beating / to get thrashed / to come under attack
挨骂 áimà | 挨罵 āimà - to receive a scolding

综 zōng | 綜 zòng - to sum up / to put together
There is also another (different) pronunciation distinction for this character:
综 zèng | 綜 zòng - heddle (device to form warp in weaving textiles)

错综复杂 cuòzōngfùzá | 錯綜複雜 cuòzòngfùzá - tangled and complicated
综合 zōnghé | 綜合 zònghé - comprehensive / composite / synthesized / mixed / to sum up / to integrate / to synthesize
综艺 zōngyì | 綜藝 zòngyì - variety (entertainment format) 

萎 wěi | wēi - to wither / to drop / to decline / spiritless

枯萎 kūwěi | kūwēi - to wilt / to wither / wilted / withered / drained / enervated / exhausted

跌 diē | dié - to fall / to tumble / to trip / (of prices etc) to drop

下跌 xiàdiē | xiàdié - to fall / to tumble
跌倒 diēdǎo | diédǎo - to tumble / to fall / fig. to suffer a reverse (in politics or business)
跌落 diēluò | diéluò - to fall / to drop

档 dàng | 檔 dǎng - official records / grade (of goods) / file / records / shelves / slot / gap / crosspiece / classifier for crosspieces / classifier for events, affairs etc

高档 gāodàng | 高檔 gāodǎng - superior quality / high grade / top grade 
文档 wéndàng | 文檔 wéndǎng - (computer) file 
搭档 dādàng | 搭檔 dādǎng - to cooperate / partner 

帆 fān | fán - sail
According to MDBG, this character is pronounced with the first tone in Taiwan in the word 帆布 (canvas).
Also, there is another fān vs. fán situation where it appears two traditional characters were merged to 帆 in simplified:
帆 fān | 颿 fán - to gallop

帆船 fānchuán | fánchuán - sailboat
一帆风顺 yìfānfēngshùn | 一帆風順 yìfánfēngshùn - propitious wind throughout the journey (idiom) / plain sailing / to go smoothly / have a nice trip!

夹 jiā | 夾 jiá - to press from either side / to place in between / to sandwich / to carry sth under armpit / wedged between / between / to intersperse / to mix / to mingle / clip / folder
Interestingly, there is another definition that is second tone on both sides of the straight:
夹 | 夾 jiá - double-layered / lined (garment)
Also, apparently there are a couple words that are pronounced with the fourth tone in Taiwan:
夹 | 夾 jià - used in 夾生｜夹生 and 夾竹桃｜夹竹桃

夹克 jiākè | 夾克 jiákè - jacket (loanword)

宁 nìng | 寧 níng - would rather / to prefer / how (emphatic)
In Taiwanese Mandarin, this character is pronounced the same as the pronunciation of 宁 that you are probably more used to seeing:
宁 | 寧 níng - peaceful / to pacify / to visit (one’s parents etc)

宁可 nìngkě | 寧可 níngkě - preferably / one would prefer to…(or not to…) / would rather / (would) be better to / (to pick) the lesser of two evils
宁愿 nìngyuàn | 寧願 níngyuàn - would rather / better

叔 shū | shú - uncle / father’s younger brother / husband’s younger brother

叔叔 shūshu | shúshu - father’s younger brother / uncle

筑 zhù | zhú - to build / to construct / to ram / to hit
In addition, there is a character that is identical in simplified characters with the same pronunciation split:
筑 zhù | 築 zhú - five-string lute

建筑 jiànzhù | 建築 jiànzhú - to construct / building

菌 jūn | jùn - germ / bacteria / fungus / mold
There is also another definition for 菌:
菌 jùn - mushroom

病菌 bìngjūn | bìngjùn - harmful bacteria / pathogenic bacteria / germs
杀菌 shājūn | 殺菌 shājùn - to kill germs / to disinfect / to sterilize

懵 měng | méng - stupid

懵懂 měngdǒng | méngdǒng - confused / ignorant

For 懵懂, because of third tone -> second tone rule, there shouldn’t be a difference. I thought this was amusing.

悄 qiǎo - quiet / sad
In the Mainland, 悄 is third tone in words like 悄然无声, but when duplicated as 悄悄, it is first tone. However, it Taiwan, it remains third tone.

悄悄 qiāoqiāo | qiǎoqiǎo - quietly / secretly / stealthily / quiet / worried

结 jiē | 結 jié - (of a plant) to produce (fruit or seeds)
In the Mainland, there is a distinction between 结 jiē and 结 jié:
结 | 結 jié - knot / sturdy / bond / to tie / to bind / to check out (of a hotel)

结果 jiēguǒ | 結果 jiéguǒ - to bear fruit

So this word sounds just like the 结果 you are probably more familiar with:
结果 | 結果 jiéguǒ - outcome / result / conclusion / in the end / as a result / to kill / to dispatch

载 zǎi | 載 zài - to record in writing / to carry (i.e. publish in a newspaper etc) /  year
载 can also be pronounced with the fourth tone in the Mainland, but the meaning is different:
载 | 載 zài - to carry / to convey / to load / to hold / to fill up / and / also / as well as / simultaneously

下载 xiàzǎi | 下載 xiàzài - to download
记载 jìzǎi | 記載 jìzài - to write down / to record / written account
转载 zhuǎnzǎi | 轉載 zhuǎnzài - to forward (a shipment) / to reprint sth published elsewhere

绩 jì | 績 jī - to spin (hemp etc) / merit / accomplishment

成绩 chéngjì | 成績 chéngjī - achievement / performance records / grades
丰功伟绩 fēnggōngwěijì | 豐功偉績 fēnggōngwěijī - glorious achievement

亚 yà | 亞 yǎ - second / next to / inferior / sub- OR Asia / Asian
*The Taiwanese Mandarin dictionaries I looked at actually use yà, not yǎ, but I’ve heard yǎ spoken. I’m guessing it’s a nonstandard pronunciation.

亚洲 yàzhōu | 亞洲 yǎzhōu - Asia
亚军 yàjūn | 亞軍 yǎjūn - second place (in a sports contest) / runner-up

发 fà | 髮 fǎ - hair
发 is a 多音字 in simplified Chinese, but not in traditional:
发 | 發 fā - to send out / to show (one’s feeling) / to issue / to develop / to make a bundle of money / classifier for gunshots (rounds)

头发 tóufa | 頭髮 tóufǎ - hair (on the head)
发型 fàxíng | 髮型 fǎxíng - hairstyle / hairdo

朴 pǔ | 樸 pú - plain and simple
The simplified version of this character has other definitions/pronunciations as well:
朴 piáo | pú - surname Piao (eq. to Korean surname Park)
朴 pò - Celtis sinensis var. japonica

简朴 jiǎnpǔ | 簡樸 jiǎnpú - simple and unadorned / plain 
淳朴 chúnpǔ | 淳樸 chúnpú - simple and honest / unsophisticated / guileless

炸 zhá | zhà - to deep fry
炸 zhà - to burst / to explode / to blow up / (fig.) to fly into a rage
Another example of two distinct pronunciations in the Mainland being the same in Taiwan.

炸鸡 zhájī | 炸雞 zhàjī - fried chicken 
炸酱面 zhájiàngmiàn | 炸醬麵 zhàjiàngmiàn - pork and fermented soybean paste noodle dish (also known as jjajangmyeon in Korean)

淑 shū | shú - warm and virtuous
This character is not uncommon in names (usually older women).

淑女 shūnǚ | shúnǚ - wise and virtuous woman / lady

褐 hè | hé - brown / gray or dark color / coarse hemp cloth

褐色 hèsè | hésè - brown

驯 xùn | 馴 xún - to attain gradually / to tame

驯服 xùnfú | 馴服 xúnfú - to tame / tame / docile
驯化 xùnhuà | 馴化 xúnhuà - to tame / to domesticate

涛 tāo | 濤 táo - big wave
This character can be found in names, like that of former PRC president Hu Jintao (胡锦涛).

波涛 bōtāo | 波濤 bōtáo - great waves / billows