When the name changes its writing system

As long as a brand name uses letters from the latin alphabet, the challenges are easy to manage: pronounceability in different languages, cultural connotations, and trademark availability. Challenging, but manageable.

As soon as a name needs to be adapted to a different writing system, the task changes fundamentally. In Chinese, for example, there are no letters. There are symbols; over 5,000 commonly used ones, each with its own meaning, its own sound, and its own cultural connotations. Adapting a western brand name for china is therefore never a simple translation. It is a process of re-creation under unique conditions.

I come across this issue regularly in my work: B2B companies, industrial companies, and technology concerns that are expanding into the Chinese market and find that their name doesn’t work there. Not because it’s a bad name, but because it can’t be represented in Chinese.

When a brand changes its writing style, there are three basic approaches. Which one is the right choice depends on the brand context.

The name should sound similar to the original in the target language. The meaning of the chosen characters is secondary; phonetic similarity takes priority. This works best when the original name is already well-known internationally and brand recognition needs to be maintained.

The challenge: In Chinese, every symbol has a meaning, whether you like it or not. Simply translating words phonetically can end up pairing symbols that, when combined, seem odd, inappropriate, or even embarrassing. That’s why a dictionary isn’t enough; you need native speakers with experience in naming.

This isn’t about the sound, but about the meaning. The name should convey in the target language what the original name means or what the brand stands for. The original sound is usually lost in the process.

This approach is appropriate when the brand message is more important than phonetic recognition. Or when the original name contains sounds that simply cannot be reproduced in Chinese.

A good example is 优万果 (yōu wàn guo), the Chinese name for Asia Fruit Logistica: 优 means “excellent,” 万 means “many,” and 果 means “fruit” or “result.” These three symbols convey the brand’s core concept in Chinese without any reference to the original pronunciation.

In practice, a hybrid approach is the most common and often the best option. A name that phonetically reminds people of the original while also carrying its own positive meaning in the target market. That is the ultimate challenge and what we do most often at INCREON.

Let’s take 安滨胜 (Ān Bīn Shèng), a manufacturer of flood protection systems. The three characters stand for “safe,” “shore,” and “victory,” summing up the company’s mission while keeping the name phonetically close to the original. In this case, meaning and sound are consciously combined.

In linguistics, transliteration and transcription are defined differently than in naming. In linguistics, transliteration refers to the symbolic transfer between writing systems; transcription refers to the representation of pronunciation.

In the context of naming and branding, these terms are used in specific ways: “transliteration” refers to the phonetic transfer of a brand name, while “transcription” refers to the transfer of its content and meaning. Language is dynamic, and so are technical terms. In this post, we use these terms as they are commonly understood in the field of naming.

China isn’t the only market with a different writing system. But it is the most complex. Not just because of the characters, but because of the cultural depth that lies in the language.

I already mentioned this in the article on symbolic names: BYD refers to its technologies internally using terms like 云辇 (imperial carriage) or 天神之眼 (eye of god) . NIO calls its sound system 九霄天琴: Heavenly Harp. These names work because they are rooted in Chinese culture. The reverse is also true: a western name that conveys strength and tradition in europe may be meaningless in china. Or worse.

Added to this are the differences between mandarin and regional dialects. A name that sounds pleasant in mandarin may sound awkward in cantonese or evoke unpleasant associations. And the legal framework for trademarks in China follows its own set of rules.

INCREON established its own team in Shanghai in 2006. This is an essential part of our naming process. When we develop a name for the Chinese market, we don’t do it at a desk in munich with a dictionary. Instead, it’s a collaborative process between our munich-based strategy team and our native-speaking naming experts in Shanghai.

This isn’t something to consider only when entering the Chinese market. Ideally, the question of whether a name can be adapted to other writing systems should be taken into account right from the start of the naming process. Not every name that works in the latin writing system can be effectively transliterated. Some sound combinations simply cannot be represented in certain languages.

In our naming process, we therefore check from the very beginning, especially for international projects, whether the top choices are workable outside the latin alphabet. This requires little effort in the early stages but saves a lot of money later on.

Anyone who realizes after registering their trademark that their name won’t work in China faces an unpleasant choice: develop a second name for the market (expensive and risky from a branding perspective) or push through the original name phonetically (cheap and often embarrassing).

The end result should not be a translation table. It should be a name that works in both worlds: in the original latin script and in the target script. Two spellings, one brand. This requires more than just linguistic expertise; it requires an understanding of branding, cultural sensitivity, and a commitment to rethinking the creative process for each writing system.

That is exactly what makes transcription and transliteration in naming so fascinating. And so challenging.

Are you planning to enter the Chinese market or another market that uses a non-latin writing system? We develop brand names that work in both worlds.