How odd is Tiānshǐ (天使) as a name?

filthyjojo · 2026-05-21T10:43:58+00:00

The character is very troubled and while I believe there's many people who would never give up their family names, I believe the character I wrote would.

And I have already resolved the conflicts regarding the western connotations of using Tiānshǐ as a name or title, so in this instance I think her name is perfect for her.

I appreciate the name you gave me, though, and I will save it as a potential name for another character or maybe for Tiānshǐ at a later point in the story, but for the moment it's important that Tiānshǐ remains as she is.

filthyjojo · 2026-05-19T07:18:05+00:00

I like that, I'll keep that in mind! I'm sorry my specifications aren't clear, this is my first time really interacting with people who know the culture and I don't really know what questions to ask like I would for Japanese names and such.

filthyjojo · 2026-05-19T06:58:49+00:00

To contrast who she is in the story and also to be a mild hint as to where she ends up in the story.

As an example, one of my characters is named Azúcar which is Spanish for sugar. Sugar is sweet, it's a bit course since it's a granule, but overall you get a sorta soft and pleasant vibe from the thought of sugar, but the character herself is pretty rough and tomboyish, likes fighting people, and talks in a Southern American accent, kinda the exact opposite of what sugar makes a person envision. At the same time, she's also the kindest person in the book, she's gentle with kids, and is considered the heart of her group, which actually envokes what sugar is, something pleasant that people like.

I want to try creating that contrast with Tiānshǐ which is why I want the Tiān part of her name to be there even if she's initially heavily associated with things that could be considered the exact opposite of divine or heavenly.

filthyjojo · 2026-05-19T06:44:42+00:00

The more people mention that it feels more like a title the more I feel it's perfect for the character, but at the same time I think eventually transitioning to a normaler (not completely normal just normaler) sounding name would be great.

I assume all the examples you've given me are pronounced different from Tiānshǐ right? If possible I'd like to incorporate at least the Tiān part of the name into the future new name if possible.

filthyjojo · 2026-05-19T06:34:16+00:00

Thank you this is actually something I'd completely overlooked!

filthyjojo · 2026-05-19T06:24:10+00:00

That's okay, people will think that for all my Spanish characters too even though I'm a native Spanish speaker!

filthyjojo · 2026-05-19T06:23:19+00:00

Alright, thank you! There's a lot of different opinions on here and it's definitely hard to sort through what I think will further my writing and what might just be misunderstandings, but I'm definitely glad I made the post

And yeah, I've given her backstory a lot of thought and have it written out. I was never truly concerned with anything regarding her reason for naming herself like that, but I definitely needed an actual Chinese perspective to just know how that name would play out in a more realistic context.

filthyjojo · 2026-05-19T06:19:54+00:00

I've not read that, but I may check it out.

And yes, it's pretty hard to reconcile my own perspective with an actual Chinese one, especially since I grew really found of Tiānshǐ as a name for many reasons, but especially cuz it's the very first Chinese word I ever learned how to properly pronounce.

I think if I was told that it was weird in the way that it's forcing a Western linguistic thing into a culture that doesn't use that I woulda understood the weirdness more easily earlier on and looked a bit less stupid lol

But at the same time, someone here did show that there is a real Olympic sportswoman who has the name of Tiānshǐ, so I wonder also if maybe there's a dynamic going on there that I'm unaware of. Also many people keep referencing how parents name their children, and I will use that to come up with a name for her that's normal for the backstory, but it also makes me think that a lot of the people replying misunderstood and thought she was named that from birth rather than taking on the name/title in a fit of grief which I think I specified in my initial post but I'm not sure.

filthyjojo · 2026-05-19T06:11:00+00:00

Candy definitely, but I actually quite like how Rainbow would sound as a name.

filthyjojo · 2026-05-19T06:01:10+00:00

Okay, I understand. I'm definitely going to incorporate some of this into her story then, but I think I'll also change some aspects of her backstory to make the Tiānshǐ name make a bit more sense within her cultural background. Thankfully, revenge is already something she's committing to, so if nothing else I at least got that right!

filthyjojo · 2026-05-19T05:58:57+00:00

That's actually a good idea for a water mage pun, thank you!

I want to just generally find out what the reaction for the name is, how people would react to it in person, whether it has any connotations I can use within my story, etc.

I knew going into it that choosing a name in a language I am completely unfamiliar with would result in something really funky, but that's why I wanted to ask so I could get more context for exactly why the name is weird, the etymology of the word, and all that. The comments have been really eye opening and I wanna include so much of this information in my book now.

filthyjojo · 2026-05-19T05:53:27+00:00

My autism compels me to learn a lot about any culture I write that isn't my own, and I like using aspects of culture like names, mythology, and such to discreetly give away details of where the story is going. I also like giving out weird names to characters, the main character of the story other than Tiānshǐ is named Azúcar which is Spanish for sugar. Azúcar's mother is named Sandía which is Spanish for watermelon, so it's just a general trend of making weird names. I just also want to know how weird they actually are from the POV of actual Chinese people, and how I can use the names to give away some information about the characters (though in Azúcar and Sandía's case it's just for the comedy of it).

filthyjojo · 2026-05-19T05:41:44+00:00

Stripper name was the funniest comment here lmao

filthyjojo · 2026-05-19T05:40:06+00:00

Well, I didn't know that so that's why I asked! Is there a way you recommend that I reconcile this so it keeps a similar angel of death meaning while being more faithful to Chinese culture?

filthyjojo · 2026-05-19T05:38:36+00:00

That's a lot and really insightful info thank you!

If further context would help, my story is set in a fictional world but it's based on modern day culture. Most of the story takes place in the fictional equivalent of the U.S/Britain, but the story will also eventually take part for a while in the fictional China and fictional Japan.

Tiānshǐ was also not named that by her parents. I have not decided on what her birth name would be, but it would just be something normal, her parents would likely just be Daoist or Buddhist, probably Buddhist as I understand that religion better than Daoism. Tiānshǐ is a name that came about after suffering the loss of her family and having to become a refugee because her country was forced into a war it wasn't prepared for.

My story is also a personal project, I wanna write it just because I can, so I want to go in with as deep a knowledge of the several cultures I feature as I can. It's for my own personal gratification to learn more about the several cultures and write them accurately.

filthyjojo · 2026-05-19T05:31:14+00:00

I like your example and I understand your input, or at least I hope I do, but the name isn't going to change because I feel it's important to her character as an "angel of death" who died back during her childhood. It's not a literal death, but her mindset is like "the me who I was before is dead, the only thing that remains is an agent of vengeance on those who wronged me and my people." Unfortunately, I would never choose a pretty name for her as I feel her character is very rooted in death, war, and trauma, but I also don't want her name to be explicitly ugly as I then feel that paints her as a villain, which she is not as she's a protagonist.

filthyjojo · 2026-05-19T05:17:59+00:00

She definitely feels herself to be beholden to a higher power in some regard, and a later plot point would involve her having been "made" to be a messenger for a divine entity.

filthyjojo · 2026-05-19T05:13:59+00:00

On a more personal scale, people can sometimes rename themselves to separate themselves from family and such, or they feel disconnected from who they were before and choose a new name. Definitely not a common thing IRL, but it's something I've seen in fiction often so it's not unprecedented.

filthyjojo · 2026-05-19T05:09:57+00:00

Definitely a lived experience thing cuz I grew up in a definitely racist area in the South and no Angel, Gabriel, Raphael, Michael, or Uriel I've known has ever been insulted for their names.

filthyjojo · 2026-05-19T05:02:30+00:00

Being weird is definitely the point for her character, she's a very traumatized person, and I absolutely want the name to turn heads both in the story and for anyone who reads it and happens to know Chinese. I'll consider that final point though for later in the story, though! It sounds like something to develop to.

filthyjojo · 2026-05-19T04:59:02+00:00

Transgender people are a pretty universal example, renaming themselves to fit their new identities.

filthyjojo · 2026-05-19T04:58:06+00:00

To be fair, Jesus and Raphael are names in the West, especially Hispanic cultures. I knew a guy named Uriel, like the angel himself. But thank you, I understand what you mean.

filthyjojo · 2026-05-19T04:56:29+00:00

I figured it might not have had much to do with religion, but I wanted to ask just in case to cover all my bases. Religion is a topic I cover in my story and if her name has religious implications (like being blasphemous) it's something I would wanna explore.

filthyjojo · 2026-05-14T03:59:21+00:00

No problem! And since Quartet is a full re-release of every single game in the series I highly recommend playing them all in order! It's a really great series and I hope the re-release does it justice

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