English name in Chinese

Cliff 柯利弗 kē lì fú

The usual Chinese spelling of Cliff is 柯利弗 (kē lì fú).

Characters: 3 Pinyin: kē lì fú Usage: more often male
kē lì fú

Character by character

柯
kē

axe-handle; stalk, bough; surname

利
lì

gains, advantage, profit, merit

弗
fú

not, negative; dollar

How it reads

This is a transliteration: the characters were chosen because they sound like Cliff. Chinese readers will hear your English name in it, which is the point — you will see this spelling in news, subtitles, and sports commentary. It is not a name a Chinese family would sit down and choose, and it does not carry a wish the way a native given name usually does.

The first character, 柯, is also a Chinese surname. That is common in these spellings and usually harmless, but it means the string can also be read as a surname plus a one-character given name — say the whole thing out loud in context before you use it on a document.

Using it as your name

Written this way, 柯利弗 works as a given name on its own, and you can add a surname in front of it. If you would rather have a name chosen for meaning — one that reads as Chinese rather than as an imported spelling — the Finder builds options from characters with documented meanings and shows you where each one comes from. Already using a Chinese name? Check it for tones, homophones, and famous-name collisions.

Source

mandarinwow《中英文名字对照》

Spellings on this page are collected from published lists and from names real foreigners use in China. They are a reference, not a recommendation: a name you can explain is better than a name that merely matches a dictionary.