Chinese pet name

In Chinese communities, people choose Chinese pet names often based on the pet's physical characteristics. The adjective "little" (Chinese: 小, pinyin: xiǎo) is added in front of the physical characteristic, creating an effect equivalent to adding "little" to "John" resulting in "Little John" or "Johnny." See the following table for common Chinese pet names.

Chinese Pet Names

Chinese pet name

Pinyin

Literal translation

Comments

小白

Xiaobai

"Little White/ Whitie"

小黒

Xiaohei

"Little Black/ Blackie"

小紅

Xiaohong

"Little Red/ Reddy"

Common bird name; roughly equivalent to Polly

小黃

Xiaohuang

"Little Brown/ Brownie"

Includes golden or fawn color pets

小靑

Xiaoqing

"Little Green/ Greeny"

A legendary green snake has this name

小胖

Xiaopang

"Little Fat/ Fatty"

Also a Chinese nickname for plump humans

小玉

Xiaoyu

"Little Jade"

Derived from the Jade Rabbit (玉兔)

來福

Laifu

"Come Prosperity"

Also used as an internet nickname

阿福

Ahfu

"Ah-Prosperity"

"Johnny" form of Prosperity

Lucky

NA

NA

Common English name used by Chinese communities to name pets