British Teen Founds SpecialName.cn to Give English Names to Chinese Newborns

 British Teen Founds SpecialName.cn to Give English Names to Chinese Newborns
Sep 09, 2016 By eChinacities.com

Editor’s Note: We all have Chinese friends, colleagues or students with questionable English names. A British teenager has created a website to help Chinese parents find appropriate English names for their newborns. The site has already named more than 220,000 Chinese babies.

A 16-year-old British teen named Beau Jessup thought of a unique business idea on a recent trip to China. When she returned to England, she created a site to help Chinese people choose English names for their newborn babies. The website, SpecialName.cn, has given out more than 220,000 Chinese names and made 48,000 pounds (about 430,000 RMB).

What’s In A Name?
Jessup is a high school student from Gloucestershire in southwest England. On a trip to China with her family, many Chinese friends asked for her to suggest English names for their newborn babies. This inspired her to start her own business. “They said that English names are important for when their children study English later in life. It is best to have an English name that they could keep for life,” said Jessup.

Chinese demand for English has skyrocketed in the past two decades. However, many Chinese students are given names that are not authentic by a casual Chinese English teacher. “They choose names from movies or from the Internet. Some of are very funny, but it can lead to misunderstandings,” said Jessup. Jessup started her own website so that Chinese parents could choice an appropriate name for their newborn babies. The service costs 60 pence (about 5.3 RMB) and takes three minutes.

How It Works
“Chinese people pay close attention to the meaning of words when giving names. The English names on the site need to reflect this. I liked names to different characters. Users can choice five characteristics they want to their children’s name to reflect. The website will give a choice of three English names. Users will be given the meaning of the name and examples of famous people with the same name,” said Jessup.

The page receives an average of 27,000 views and earns 16,000 pounds a month. Jessup is proud that her website is able to help others. She will use the revenue to pay for her university tuition. “Babies are born every day, and they all need a special name. I really like that I can help make other people happy,” said Jessup. She spends two hours a day speaking with Chinese customers and one hour working to improve the quality of the site’s services. Chinese parents are able to share photos of their newborns on the website. The website is slowly becoming an online social community for new Chinese parents as well as a naming site.

Source: QQ News

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Keywords: SpecialName.cn Chinese English names

8 Comments

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gentlename

Hi, i would like to share with you the project of one my greatest friend from canada. I know that choosing a name can be a hard job, even more if its from another country. Aniways you should check it out! https://gentlename.com for english https://gentlename.cn for chinese

May 03, 2019 02:19 Report Abuse

Guest14946694

There is another web that gives the names from meanings and also in English, Spanish, French, Italian and German https://waiyuming.com

Feb 04, 2017 04:29 Report Abuse

sandorluism

She had a great Idea, then the parents nos don´t need to think about the name, just use the software and it´s done.

Oct 30, 2016 12:06 Report Abuse

Englteachted

Yeah let's tear down what a 16 year old has accomplished because I want myself to feel big. Great accomplishment no buts or howevers. And no ' do they really need..." We don't need iphones but ..,.

Sep 13, 2016 13:01 Report Abuse

lxlxyy

not sure if they are really need an ENglish name...

Sep 11, 2016 18:32 Report Abuse

musicjunkiealex

I applaud what she's done, I think it's a very novel idea. However, there must be more to this story. How did she get an ICP to get a .cn domain? To do that, and all the translation required as I doubt her Chinese was good enough simply from a family holiday, she either had a lot of external help or is simply very smart and a born entrepreneur.

Sep 10, 2016 12:59 Report Abuse

Englteachted

How long before there's a copycat Chinese version and her site mysteriously stops working in China?

Sep 09, 2016 23:42 Report Abuse

Englteachted

genius!

Sep 09, 2016 22:53 Report Abuse