Recently updated on February 21st, 2024 at 07:52 pm
Brand names around the world come embedded with deep meanings and connotations. When it comes to global expansion into the Chinese market, it’s important for non-Chinese brands to translate and localize the name into a Chinese brand name.
Translating brand names in Chinese is more of an art than a science.
Despite the drastic disparities between Chinese and Western culture, many brands have successfully localized their branding image into the Chinese market (i.e. website localization for Chinese market). It’s not an easy task as you might think while working with a totally different language, culture, and set of traditions and sensitivities.
How hard is it to translate your brand name to Chinese?
Here’s our pick of the 15 most intriguing brand names in Chinese to see how translation should be done.
15 Most Intriguing Brand Names in Chinese
1. Brand: Mercedes-Benz
Chinese Name: 奔驰 – bēn chí
Meaning: Run quickly
2. Brand: Nike
Chinese Name: 耐克 – nài kè
Meaning: Nike has managed to achieve an impressive translation, securing almost identical phonetics while gaining a positive and culturally relevant meaning. Ideal for a world-renowned fitness brand, Nike goes by Nai Ke in China, which means enduring and persevering.
3. Brand: Reebok
Chinese Name: 锐步 – ruì bù
Meaning: Rapid step. Pretty appropriate for running shoes and equipment. It gives customers an idea of the product they are about to buy while conveying an essence the English title could not hope to match.
4. Brand: Carrefour
Chinese Name: 家乐福 – jiā lè fú
Meaning: “家乐福” means “joyous and prosperous home”. This is a big win for the company as most Chinese are big believers in luck and prosperity. Semantically, buying from Carrefour meant bringing happiness and prosperity to the home for the locals.
5. Brand: Marvel
Chinese Name: 漫威 – màn wēi
Meaning: Marvel managed to secure the Chinese brand name of Man Wei, which not only sounds similar but appeals to superhero fans with the meaning “comic power”.
6. Brand: Subway
Chinese Name: 赛百味 – sài bǎi wèi
Meaning: Race with 100 flavours
7. Brand: Coca-Cola
Chinese Name: 可口可乐 – Kě kǒu Kě lè
Meaning: “可口” means tasty and “可乐” means delightful. Making people happy with delicious taste is completely in line with the Coca-Cola brand.
8. Brand: Uniqlo
Chinese Name: 优衣库
Meaning: Excellent clothes warehouse
9. Brand: Ikea
Chinese Name: 宜家
Meaning: It was short and snappy, literally meaning “for the betterment of the home”, which is what IKEA is all about, and kept the pronunciation of IKEA and still managed to squeeze in a reference of 诗经 (Book of Odes), the oldest existing collection of Chinese poetry.
| 桃之夭夭，灼灼其华。之子于归，宜其室家。–《诗经》 Táo zhī yāo yāo, zhuó zhuó qí huá. Zhī zǐ yú guī, yí qí shì jiā | “The peach tree is young and elegant; brilliant are its flowers. This young lady is going to her future home, and will order well her chamber and house.” – Book of Odes |
10. Brand: Yosemite
Chinese Name: 优山美地
Meaning: Elegant mountain gorgeous place
11. Brand: TISSOT
Chinese Name: 天梭 – tiān suō
Meaning: Heavenly shuttle” / “shuttle of the universe”. It echoes a well-known Chinese proverb “光阴似箭，日月如梭 – Time flashing by like a dashing arrow; Day and night alternating swiftly as a weaver’s shuttle“.
12. Brand: Revlon
Chinese Name: 露华浓
Meaning: The brand name is from a well-know poem of Li Bai (the most famous poet of the Tang Dynasty). The poem praised the beauty of Yang Guifei, the imperial concubine of Emperor Xuan Zong. “云想衣裳花想容 春风拂槛露华浓” means “remembering the beauty when seeing the clouds and flowers, and the dewdrop on the handrail was shining when the spring breeze was weeping“.
13. Brand: Volkswagen
Chinese Name: 大众
Meaning: “The people” or “the mass”. The character “众” is composed of three same characters “人”, which means “person” in Chinese and therefore three times of person means “people”. It not only has a similar meaning as in German “the car for the people”, but also the character “众” looks quite familiar with the logo of the brand.
Do you think the character “众” resemble the logo in a way?
14. Brand: Pampers
Chinese Name: 帮宝适- bāng bǎo shì
Meaning: To help babies feel comfortable
15. Brand: B&Q
Chinese Name: 百安居
Meaning: Bai literally means a hundred, but in Chinese, it could mean a huge amount instead of a specific number. An Ju comes from the Chinese idiom 安居乐业 meaning people live and work in peace and contentment.
Chinese Brand Name Translation Strategies
Here are three important strategies to translate a foreign brand name into Chinese: phonetically, literally, or symbolically.
#1 Phonetic Translation
It refers to the reproduction of the sound of the brand, and it is generally used for patronymics – those brands based on names, surnames, or both. However, even if this strategy preserves the phonetic identity of the brand, it completely loses its meaning of it.
For example, the Italian brand Ferrari is translated phonetically into 法拉利 fǎ lā lì, which has no meaning at all in Chinese.
#2 Literal Translation
It is a mere translation of the words, as the name indicates. This strategy gives the possibility of preserving the meaning, but with a loss of the phonetic component.
For example, Red Bull is translated literally into 红牛 hóng niú, which literally means red bull.
#3 Symbolic Translation
It’s considered the best way to translate a brand name into Chinese as it captures the essence of the brand while maintaining a balance between sound and meaning.
For example, the Chinese translation of Mercedes-Benz is 奔驰 bēn chí with a similar sound of Benz, in addition, it’s composed of two characters meaning run quickly, perfectly fitting the image of the car producer.
Chinese Copywriter Team consists of talented linguists, project managers, localization engineers, and SEO experts. Since 2012, we have been providing translation, localization, and marketing services for various international businesses targeting the Chinese markets as well as Chinese businesses expanding their global reach.