From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
In Chinese communities, people choose Chinese pet names often based on the pet's physical characteristics. The adjective "little" (Chinese: 小, pinyin: xiǎo) is added in front of the physical characteristic, creating an effect equivalent to adding "little" to "John" resulting in "Little John" or "Johnny." See the following table for common Chinese pet names.
Chinese Pet Names
| Chinese pet name |
Pinyin |
Literal translation |
Comments |
| 小白 |
Xiaobai |
"Little White/ Whitie" |
|
| 小黒 |
Xiaohei |
"Little Black/ Blackie" |
|
| 小紅 |
Xiaohong |
"Little Red/ Reddy" |
Common bird name; roughly equivalent to Polly |
| 小黃 |
Xiaohuang |
"Little Brown/ Brownie" |
Includes golden or fawn color pets |
| 小靑 |
Xiaoqing |
"Little Green/ Greeny" |
A legendary green snake has this name |
| 小胖 |
Xiaopang |
"Little Fat/ Fatty" |
Also a Chinese nickname for plump humans |
| 小玉 |
Xiaoyu |
"Little Jade" |
Derived from the Jade Rabbit (玉兔) |
| 來福 |
Laifu |
"Come Prosperity" |
Also used as an internet nickname |
| 阿福 |
Ahfu |
"Ah-Prosperity" |
"Johnny" form of Prosperity |
| Lucky |
NA |
NA |
Common English name used by Chinese communities to name pets |
