Contrastive Analysis of Chinese and British Names from the Perspective of Culture

A name can reflect a nation’s history and culture. Studying the differences and similarities of names between two countries can help us have a better understanding of the two cultures and thus promote further communications. A contrastive analysis of Chinese and British names are discussed mainly from the forms, origins and the factors influencing naming. It is founded that the differences of names are closely related with history, religion, social system and values while the similarities are focus on the common things. In general, there are more differences than similarities. The naming system has a long history and as a traditional culture it truly deserves our attention.