Why is China Named “China”?

Every country has a name.

The origin of some names are quite obvious. For example, the United States of America are fifty united states in North America. Some names are more confusing like Iceland and Greenland. Iceland is a flourishing, nature-filled land in the North Atlantic and Greenland is blanketed in ice and mostly uninhabitable besides the coastline. So, what’s with the name switch? Iceland’s name comes from part of a tactic used by Norse settlers to deter visitors from visiting Iceland. Conversely, Greenland was named Greenland to attract new settlers.

But what about the origins of China’s name?

China’s traditional Chinese name is 中国 as in “middle kingdom”. This name is derived from ancient China’s ethnocentric view of the world. The ancient Chinese knew nothing of the world that existed beyond the mountains to the west, the desert to the north and the seas to the south and east. Therefore, they viewed their land as the center of the world.

Modern China’s official name is 中华人民共和国 or the “People’s Republic of China”. This name was first adopted in 1949 after the Chinese Civil War.

However, the origin China’s English name is unknown.

Multiple theories exist regarding the creation of China’s English name. The first of which cites a 1555 translation of a Portuguese book by Englishman, Richard Eden, as the first to use the word “China”. The Portuguese word for China was derived from the Persian word Chīnī. The other, more widely accepted, theory cites the first Chinese dynasty, the Qin (pronounced “Chin”) as the reason for China’s name. The phonetic similarity between Qin and China is currently regarded as the probable origin of the word “China”.

China is not the only country whose English name is somewhat based on the relationship between English phonetics and vernacular. Some include: Spain (España), Mexico (Estados Unidos Mexicanos), Brazil (Brasil), the Netherlands (Nederland), and Italy (Italia).

Each and every country on Earth has a name and meaning in vernacular, but the story of each nation’s English name is without a doubt unique.

Sources:

http://www.chinasage.info/chinaname.htm

http://www.omniglot.com/countries/

There are 67 comments

  1. Maggie Guo

    The origin of the English and Chinese name of the country, “China” was very interesting. The fact that the Chinese name reflects the ancient China’s ethnocentric view of the world literally is very intriguing. I also think the relationship between English phonetics and vernacular and the English name of China is very unique. Thank you for the great article!

  2. 安世璘

    Also, is there any relationship between the pottery ‘china’ and country “China”? Is it simply because china was first imported by Europe from China? Just a question I always wondered regarding of the names..

  3. Logan C

    This is so cool! I always wondered why countries were given the name they were and now I have an idea for why China is named ¨China¨!

  4. Pritesh Patel

    This article is very interesting. I thought it was cool how the English name and Chinese name origin are very different. The relationship between English phonetics and vernacular and the English name of China was very intriguing.

  5. Kelly M.

    It’s quite interesting to learn about why China was named as it was. But why were Iceland and Greenland named so differently from their characteristics?

  6. Jye Shang

    After I have read this, i realized that there is a huge correlation between the China name and ethnocentric. I now see the significance in the name “China”.

  7. Kevin Liu

    I never thought the name of the country have so many meaning under it. Really want to study about the meaning of the country’s name

  8. Maya Yu

    Great job! I found it really interesting learning about the history behind China’s name. Keep up the great work.

  9. Hitomi Honda

    This article is especially interesting to me because I never gave this topic much thought. It was a definitely an enjoyable and informative read! Thanks for sharing!

  10. Matthew L.

    What an intriguing article, Nicholas. As a geography and history buff, I especially related to this piece. Thank you for sharing!

  11. Eric wang

    That’s a great article that taught me about why China is called China, I had no idea why it was called China even though I lived there for many years and now I know why China is called China! Learned a lot!

  12. Ashley Silverstein

    It is very interesting that each place has a different meaning and there is a story behind the name of the place. I now know it is derived from ancient China’s ethnocentric view of the world. This is very cool!!

  13. Ashley K

    Wow so interesting to read about the origin of the name of China! I loved reading about the history of where China derived its name from.

  14. Nikki W

    I think that this article is very interesting! I never knew that the origin of China’s name was unknown. I am glad I read this this article and learned something new about the history of China.

  15. Nathan Davis

    What an interesting article. I never really thought about why China is called China and it turns out the reason in very fascinating.

  16. caroline strauss

    This is very informative. There is so much meaning under such a simple name. I definitely learned a lot about China’s name.

  17. Joanna

    This was such an interesting article! I would never have wondered why China would have the name “China”. I learned a lot.

  18. Alynah Ratansi

    It’s very fascinating to learn about why China was named as it was. I never knew the significance of the country until I read this article.

  19. Jake Moreh

    It was very interesting to learn about how and why China was named “China”. It makes me appreciate the Chinese culture even more.

  20. Nikki Brotter

    This is so cool! I love learning about the origins of words and I think China was named in an interesting way.

  21. Daryn N.

    Wow. So interesting. I happened to know the Greenland and Iceland story already, but it was cool to find out how China got its name.

  22. Jeffrey Z

    I did not know that China was called “中国” because it literally translated to middle kingdom. This name makes so much more sense now.

  23. Avery Porges

    It is very interesting to see how ethnocentrism played a role in the naming of very important countries!

  24. Juliann L

    Great article. I learned about how China’s name is so unique and based off of their geographic location.

  25. Boshu

    I thought China was just named because of china.
    The article tell me another reason? It’s also an interesting reason!

  26. Serene L.

    I find it interesting that they found the perfect name for China from experience, history, tradition, and stories.

  27. Sabrina Pan

    I feel like China has many names for itself. I always thought China was a word that probably represented Middle Kingdom.

  28. Richard R

    I was always curious as to why China was named “China” in English. I didn’t know there were multiple theories on the topic.

  29. Justin Cui

    Huh, interesting how we still don’t 100% know how China got its name and how there are theories behind it. The one in this article seems to be very reasonable.

  30. Stephen L.

    I learned that the Chinese thought they were at the center of the world which is why they called the land the middle kingdom

  31. Jessica Chen

    I didn’t know that 中华人民共和国 was first adopted in 1949. I also learned that China’s traditional Chinese name means middle kingdom in English.

  32. Ashley lu

    This is super interesting, I learned that China was named by their geography location and it was named in a unique way

  33. Kaydence

    I learned that China is called 中国 because ancient Chinese people believed that their country was the center of the world. I didn’t know that China is mostly called China because of the Portuguese word, Chīnī.

  34. Pratim Chowdhary

    I thought that this article was very interesting. It brought up a question that I had never really thought about. From this article I learned that China is name China because of the Qin Dynasty. I also learned that the first time the name China was mentioned was by Richard Eden.

  35. Jeff Qasemi

    I’ve always known about China’s past ethnocentric ideologies but, I always wondered how China was derived from (zhong guo). It’s interesting however, it’s only theoretical as to its source. Hopefully, with more time we may we the true source of this name.

  36. Stephanie Cen

    I love how the name is compared to other nation’s names. It was also interesting how the Chinese name originated from “middle country”.

  37. Mathew Liang

    This article has given me some knowledge that I never really thought about and it is very interesting because you always just hear a country’s name but you never question its origin so it is cool to see the origin of where china came from

  38. Joanne Li

    This was a super interesting and well-written article! I hadn’t thought of how similar Qin and China sounded before. I also loved the extra facts about the origins of the English names of other countries, such as Iceland and Greenland!

  39. Austin Kweit

    This was a very interesting article! Now I know why China is named China and not something else.

  40. Jess Weissman

    That’s so interesting! I can’t believe China used to be called Middle Kingdom. Now I know why China is named China!

  41. Isabell Cheuk

    Wow! Who knew that China had such a interesting backstory to it’s name? I can’t believe that China used to be called Middle Kingdom!

  42. Natasha K.

    That was very interesting! I never knew China used to be called the Middle Kingdom because of the view that they had on the world.

  43. Emanuel Florez

    Interesting i did not know that China’s traditional name was “Middle Kingdom”. Very interesting information keep it up 👍🏻

  44. Brendan

    Wow! I never even wondered about why China was called China. It turns out that the phonetics of the name, Qin, is similar to China in its sound. Great article!

  45. Wesley Pergament

    I’ve always wondered why China was named the way it is. It’s amazing to see that there are so many theories out there on why it is what it is. Thanks for sharing!

  46. Stephanie Cen

    I was completely unaware of the vast history behind the naming of China. Thank you for educating us about the history behind the name of not only China but also other countries.

  47. Dennis Chau

    I was very surprised when I read this article, learning about the history of China and how it got it’s name.

  48. Michael P

    Your article ties into the history of China’s isolation so it makes sense that they would view their land as the center of the world. I especially liked your addition of how other countries were named as related content. Great job.

  49. Dylan Swickle

    Thanks so much for informing me about the reason China became known as China. When I went to China, I was fortunate to learn so many things about the country that I didn’t know before. Learning where the name China came from and the origins of the country is something I find very intriguing!

  50. Sreeram

    may be many or may not accept but my feeling is that China might have stemmed up from Sanskrit work Sinh meaning Lion , the Word Sinh is prevalent all across the south east asia, in India/Bharath in Sinha/Simham/Singh… SriLanka also called ‘Sin’gala , and names like Rana ‘Sin’ga mean battle lion… the face that India and China being the oldest known civiization may be connected at the roots…

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