Editing Generation name (section)

== Practice ==
Generation names may be the first or second character in a given name, and normally this position is kept consistent for the associated lineage. However some lineages alternate its position from generation to generation. This is quite common for [[Korean name|Korean names]]. Sometimes lineages will also share the same [[radical (Chinese)|radical]] in the non-generation name.

A related custom is the practice of naming two children from the characters of a common word. In Chinese, most words are composed of two or more characters. For example, by taking apart the word ''jiàn-kāng'' {{zh|c={{linktext|健康}}|labels=no}} ('healthy'), the Wang family might name one son Wáng Jiàn (王健) and the other Wáng Kāng (王康). Another example would be ''měi-lì'' {{zh|s={{linktext|美丽}}|labels=no}} ('beautiful'). Daughters of the Zhous might be named Zhōu Měi (周美) and Zhōu Lì (周丽).

Besides the [[Han Chinese|Han]] majority, the Muslim [[Hui people|Hui Chinese people]]{{NoteTag|Some authors consider the Hui people to be a Han Chinese subgroup.}} have also widely employed generation names, which they call ''lunzi paibie'';{{NoteTag|{{sic}}, possible corruption of ''lùnzì páibèi'' 论字排辈, an alternate term for 字辈. Not to be confused with [[wikt:论资排辈|论资排辈]].}} <!-- ? ?派別] --> for instance, in the [[Nasr al-Din (Yunnan)|Na family]], the five most recent generations used the characters Wan, Yu, Zhang, Dian, and Hong.  This practice is slowly fading since the government began keeping public records of genealogy.<ref>{{cite book |url = https://archive.org/details/chinaoffcenterma0000unse |title = China off center: mapping the margins of the middle kingdom |publisher=University of Hawaii Press |year=2002 |isbn=0-8248-2577-2 |edition=illustrated |page=[https://archive.org/details/chinaoffcenterma0000unse/page/121 121] |quote = ma surname hui. |access-date=2011-04-09 |url-access=registration |author1=Susan Debra Blum |author2 = [[Lionel M. Jensen]] }}</ref>

The [[Yao people]] of [[Guangdong]] has also adopted the Chinese name system, albeit with extensions known as "sub-family-names" to indicate branches. Some groups have more recently (circa [[Song Dynasty]]) adopted the generation name system with little modification.<ref>{{cite web |last1=YU |first1=Xiao |title=瑶族的汉式姓氏和字辈制度 |trans-title=Chinese surname and generation names in Yao people |url=https://www.chinafolklore.org/web/index.php?Page=5&NewsID=9133 |website=China Folklore Network / China Folklore Society |access-date=23 December 2022 |language=zh |date=2011-08-10}}</ref>