Talk:Generation name

Generation name in Japan?

Was the practice of generation name adopted in Japan? I've never heard that. A samurai clan usually had a character called tsuji (通字), which was used for the names of its members for generations. For example, Ashikaga shoguns used 義 (yoshi) and Tokugawa shoguns used 家 (ie) as tsuji. This practice is clearly different from Chinese generation name.

Menchi calls generation name sedaimei (世代名) in Japanese on this article. I'm curious about the source. --Nanshu 23:23, 21 Oct 2003 (UTC)

Thanks for the info. The 世代名 is bad Google search. It turns out to be unrelated to this generation name. --Menchi 02:24, 22 Oct 2003 (UTC)

Ten years late, but Taiyo Sugiura and his brother have a generation name. ToriJana (talk) 17:03, 28 January 2013 (UTC)

Examples needed

To make the article more comprehensible to readers not familiar with Chinese names, some examples should be given of Chinese names while identifying the part that is the given name, and the part in there that is the generation name. The term "banci" is introduced without explanation; is it synonymous to "generation name"?  --Lambiam^Talk 19:34, 6 October 2006 (UTC)

banci introduced after Generation Name Hanfresco 02:12, 16 November 2006 (UTC)

I plan to rewrite (part of) the article, using examples that link somewhere within Wikipedia. Probably Confucius' family (Kong) is the best example, as their generation names are widely (if not universally) used. Thought I'd give a headup to whoever wrote the examples. Liuyao (talk) 17:37, 20 June 2011 (UTC)

Banci more often appear as the second character in a 2-character given name

Is this really a fact? --tess 00:04, 12 January 2007 (UTC)

Regional view?

What is the region from whose view this article is written? It certainly does not reflect the general Chinese usage. "Generation name" is called "字辈" in Mandarin and several other dialects, or alternatively "行輩" or "班輩" in Mandarin. See zh:字辈 for more information. My Chinese dictionary defines "班次" as "(1) (in schools) the order of classes; (2) the frequency of operation of regularly timetabled modes of transportation, e.g. busses."

And, as per last question, where I come from the generational name is most often the *first* character of the given name, not the second. --Sumple (Talk) 01:55, 27 May 2007 (UTC)

Same with where I come from - Hong Kong. I've never known anyone whose generation name is the last character of their name. tess (talk) 20:46, 27 December 2007 (UTC)

It does occur, though less frequently. For example, 李鴻章 and 李鴻藻 are NOT related: the former's generation name is 章 (brother 李瀚章, 李鶴章), while 李鴻藻 is the 鴻 generation from Gaoyang. In some families, the generation names alternates, with one generation using the first character, and the next one the second character, and so forth. Liuyao (talk) 17:15, 20 June 2011 (UTC)

Examples

lol seriously, who came up with the siblings' names? It is completely faux pas as it suggests overt conflict between the three.

Lack of context, rearranging the article would help

As I read this article it didn't make any sense until I got to part on generational poems. That is the first place where it talks about establishing lineages. This is the English language edition of Wikipedia and readers cannot be expected to be familiar with the lineage traditions of China. The United States does not have a concept of the founding of a lineage whatsoever. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.34.239.79 (talk) 14:52, 31 August 2011 (UTC)

Reconciliaton and/or Clarifying

Okay, so when you have two different lineages marrying, how did/do they decide which (the mother's or father's) poem to use? Like in the example. I get that like in the US, the woman took the man's last name, but does that also mean they use his generational poem as well (if different)? Is it patrilineal? It almost raises more questions than answers. 98.71.142.224 (talk) 00:24, 4 October 2012 (UTC)

Frankly, this is not a universal concept. Most people I've known who have generation names have parents with different names from the rest of their families. They don't follow "poems" that this article implies. I think some people just like the concept and pick the same first/second character for their kids and then choose a character they like to use as names. At least that's what I've seen. ToriJana (talk) 17:05, 28 January 2013 (UTC)

I believe this is a traditional thing and is less relevant now, at least in Mainland China, with various forms of cultural reformation and destruction happening in the last century. And look at the whole idea, it's there because the concept of a huge extended family was popular, just the same way the nobles did care about their family and dynasty in medieval Europe. It was certainly patrilineal because it was an old practice, and the males had supermacy (as everywhere else in the world). The women don't take the man's last name, but children still get the father's family name (and everything associated with that family concept).

Even in older times, you have to take into consider that this is only something practiced by the bigger/richer families. We didn't have much literacy rate in the past, so why expect peasants in the past picking their names from poems or Buddhist mantras?

To ToriJana: maybe you are ask your Chinese friends about their grandparents' name. That's the last generation where this generation name thing was still widely practiced I think. --Ahyangyi (talk) 14:42, 11 March 2014 (UTC)

Lead

The lead also cites that this was originally intended for just males, but I would dispute that. Where is a citation? If one cannot be found, it should be removed. ToriJana (talk) 17:07, 28 January 2013 (UTC)

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"In other cultures" section removed

I deleted the "In other cultures" section added on January 28, 2020 because:

• One family's practice does not equate to a "culture";

• That family's supposed naming practice does not seem to have anything to do with generations, the topic of the page; and

• That factoid may not even be true. The Wikipedia article for her Carly Fiorina's father, Joseph Tyree Sneed III, does not say anything about him having the name "Carleton".

TresÁrboles (talk) 23:38, 25 July 2020 (UTC)

Ah, I just saw the article from which the factoid was sourced. It says: "Carly, whose real name is Cara Carleton, so called because every Sneed generation, going back to the Civil War, had had a Carleton" which is definitely not what the removed section said. "Every Sneed generation" is not the same as "every member of the family".

TresÁrboles (talk) 00:06, 26 July 2020 (UTC)

Error in the article about "given name"

Here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Generation_name#Example

In fact it's like this: Generation name + Personal name = Given name

https://qph.cf2.quoracdn.net/main-qimg-a3ef3ab39f53ef7da354b8aecadfa905

But in the article it's listed as Generaion name | Given name | Full name

The personal name isn't the given name. The given name is the generation name + personal name together. Alleingänger (talk) 21:48, 10 December 2023 (UTC)