Orient Name › Characters › 云

What 云 means in a Chinese nameyún

16,410 real names in the 1.14M-name corpus♂ 5,394 · ♀ 11,0164 strokesdata & verification
云yún · A
tier A

雲:山川升腾的水气,在天上成片,随风而行。名字里的「云」就是这一片。

Cloud — vapour that rises off mountain and river, gathers, and goes where the wind takes it.

3 处原典 · 1 部典籍 · 全部可核

高远从容 High, and unhurried

行到水穷处,坐看云起时。

Walk to where the water ends; sit and watch the clouds rise.

全唐诗 · 王維《終南別業》 · our translation原文作「雲」
The cloud is what appears after the road runs out — the character in a name carries that turn, not defeat. 此句的「云」是水气所成之雲,取「路走完了也不急」的从容;云在此是转身之后才出现的东西。
孤高自在 Alone, and at ease with it

众鸟高飞尽,孤云独去闲。

The birds have all flown high and away; one cloud drifts off, in no hurry.

全唐诗 · 李白《獨坐敬亭山》 · our translation原文作「雲」
孤 here is not loneliness but self-possession: going alone, and in no hurry about it. 「孤云」写的是「独去闲」:自己走,不赶时间,也不等谁。名字取的多是这一层的自在。
远志与行路 Distance, and the will to cross it

长风破浪会有时,直挂云帆济沧海。

A long wind will come to break the waves; I will hoist a cloud-white sail and cross the sea.

全唐诗 · 李白《雜曲歌辭 行路難三首 一》 · our translation原文作「雲」
The sail is cloud-coloured: 云 here is scale, the thing that makes the crossing possible. 「云帆」是把帆比作云——云在这里是尺度:帆高得像云,所以过得去海。
行云云起云帆云霓云起云松行云云岚云帆
In a name

Movement without effort — the part of a name that refuses to be pinned down.

「云」给名字的是余地:什么都还没定,但也不是空的。