Creating baby names with AI

If there’s one thing that keeps expectant parents up at night, it’s choosing the perfect name for their little one. After all, this linguistic gift will follow your child from playground to boardroom, setting the tone for introductions throughout their life.

In Chinese culture, a good name is believed to shape destiny. In the West, it’s often about honouring family or sounding pleasing. But across cultures, the weight of naming a child feels universal—perhaps because 80% of parents report feeling significant pressure to choose the “perfect” name. This pressure doubles when navigating the complexities of Chinese naming traditions, where each stroke of the brush carries centuries of cultural significance.

As someone who straddles both Chinese and Western cultures, I’ve always been fascinated by how names and often go on deep dives when naming characters in my writing. However, this is nothing like I’ve experienced—creating a name for my own child. My wife and I had been navigating the particularly complex world of Chinese naming since her second trimester. And like any modern problem solver with a penchant for technology, I wondered: could AI help streamline this deeply personal process?

The art and science of Chinese names

For the uninitiated, a Chinese name isn’t just a collection of pretty characters. It’s a carefully balanced equation taking into account the stroke count numerology, characters’ elemental harmony, phonetic flow, and layers of cultural meaning that would make an onion jealous.

Traditional methods involve consulting fortune tellers, studying almanacs, and sometimes paying naming specialists who consider everything from birth charts to family histories. My parents’ generation would have never imagined using artificial intelligence to name their offspring—they were more likely to consult the year’s “Yellow Calendar” (《黄历》 Huánglì) and our family’s genealogy records.

But here we are in 2025, and AI tools have become sophisticated enough to understand these cultural nuances and assist in creating meaningful names—though with human guidance, of course. Think of it as having a culturally knowledgeable assistant rather than outsourcing the entire emotional process.

I recognise that some traditionalists might raise eyebrows at using AI for something as sacred as naming. After all, isn’t this precisely the kind of deeply human, cultural practice that should remain untouched by technology?

I had similar reservations initially. However, I came to see AI not as replacing tradition but as a tool for exploring it more thoroughly. The combination of my cultural knowledge with AI’s analytical capabilities allowed us to honour traditions with greater depth than either approach alone could achieve.

Our AI-assisted naming methodology

Working with AI on baby naming is a bit like having a master chef help you prepare a family recipe. The chef brings technical expertise and an understanding of flavour combinations, but you still provide the family’s secret ingredients and make the final decisions about taste. Similarly, AI offered analytical precision while we supplied the cultural context and emotional resonance.

I developed a comprehensive approach combining traditional wisdom with AI assistance.

1. Set constraints

First, we put down details like the expected birth year, my wife’s and my names, our respective bazi—our time of births—for the AI to use as reference, along with other constraints to maintain cultural integrity while making sure it won’t be awkward internationally.

The baby’s expected zodiac would play a part in the naming because the zodiac carries its own element. I went into the naming process with a Dragon year baby in mind, since our due date was a few days into Chinese New Year and we expected the baby to arrive a week or two early.

• Zodiac
  • Baby’s expected birth in the Year of the Wood Dragon
  • Parents’ birth year to determine their zodiac element
• Bazi
  • Parents’ bazi derived from the time of birth
  • Since we didn’t know the baby’s bazi yet, we checked against it later on
• Parents’ name
  • The stroke counts in the parents’ names
  • The elemental profiles of the parents’ names
  • The meaning of the parents’ name
• Family surname
  • Our baby would take my family name 萧 (Xiāo)
• Things to avoid
  • Check against historical figures with the same or same-sounding name
  • Verify that there are no taboos in regional expression in China and Southeast Asia
  • Ensure there are no potential negative connotations

With this information, the AI was able to narrow down:

• The ideal range of stroke counts, in our case a target of 25–35 total strokes
• The ideal element of suggested characters
  • Prioritising Wood element to support the Wood Dragon year
  • Balancing Water to counter excessive Fire in parents’ names
• The preferred phonetics

2. Generate names

I got the Claude to generate lists of names that fit the above constraints and are auspicious based on the input we gave. I went through over a hundred names. For each, the AI provided detailed analysis of:

• The total stroke count and rate how auspicious it was
• Element of each character and evaluate the elemental balance
• Visual balance between the characters
• Explain the name’s meaning and how it fits with the meaning of the parents’ names
• Checking the tonal progression so that the name flows well when spoken
• Note if the name is more masculine, feminine or neutral, since we don’t know the baby’s gender in China until birth

3. Generate from shortlist

With our initial shortlist of names, I had a list of names that worked, so I figured it was useful to feed the list back to the AI as reference to generate more names. It did so by reusing certain characters that we liked, or meanings that we thought were good as the starting point to come up with further ideas.

Prompt used

Here’s the prompt I used:

Create and analyse Chinese baby names. Use the following information and templates to guide your suggestions:

## BASIC INFORMATION:## PERSONAL INFORMATION:
- Family surname: [your surname in Chinese characters and pinyin]
- Baby's expected birth year and zodiac: [e.g. 2024 Wood Dragon]
- Baby's gender (if known): [boy/girl/unknown]
- Father's name: [Chinese characters and pinyin]
- Father's birth year and zodiac: [e.g. 1990 Metal Horse]
- Mother's name: [Chinese characters and pinyin]
- Mother's birth year and zodiac: [e.g. 1993 Water Rooster]

## NAMING REQUIREMENTS:
1. Elemental Balance:
   - Support element for the birth year: [e.g. 2024]
   - Harmonize with parents' elements
   - Balance any excessive elements in family
   
2. Structural Requirements:
   - Ensure that the name has a total stroke count that falls within the range that is the most auspicious
   - Number of characters in given name: [usually 1-2]
   - Any specific characters to include/avoid: [if applicable]
   
3. Phonetic Considerations:
   - Preferred tone patterns: [if any]
   - Important sounds or syllables: [if any]
   - Ensure that the name is easy to pronounce internationally
   
4. Meaning Requirements:
   - Desired qualities or themes: [e.g. wisdom, strength, grace]
   - Cultural or literary references preferred: [if any]
   
5. Additional Considerations:
   - Family naming traditions to respect: [if any]
   - Cultural background specifics: [e.g. Malaysian Chinese Hakka family]
   - Any other important factors: [e.g. religious considerations]

## ANALYSIS TEMPLATE:
For each suggested name, please provide a comprehensive analysis using this structure:

1. Basic Information
   - Characters: [Name in Chinese]
   - Pinyin: [with tones marked]
   - Meaning: [individual character meanings + combined meaning]

2. Structural Analysis
   - Stroke Count:
     - Surname: [number] strokes
     - Middle character: [number] strokes
     - Last character: [number] strokes
     - Given name total: [number] strokes + auspiciousness rating
     - Full name total: [number] strokes + auspiciousness rating

3. Elemental Balance
   - Surname character: [element]
   - Middle character: [element] + any secondary influences
   - Last character: [element] + any secondary influences
   - Overall: How these elements interact with each other and birth year
   - Bazi flexibility assessment: How well it balances family elements

4. Phonetic Analysis
   - Tone progression: [tone numbers, e.g. 1-3-4]
   - Flow assessment: How well the sounds transition
   - Dialectal considerations: How it sounds in relevant dialects
   - Potential pronunciation issues: Any challenges for native/non-native speakers

5. Cultural Safety Check
   - Historical figure conflicts: Any notable historical namesakes
   - Modern figure conflicts: Any contemporary namesakes to be aware of
   - Regional meaning checks: Any problematic meanings in specific regions
   - Dialect meaning checks: Any issues when pronounced in other dialects
   - Homonym analysis: Any sound-alike words with negative connotations

6. Meaning Depth
   - Individual character significance: Deeper meaning of each character
   - Combined imagery: The visual or conceptual image created
   - Literary references: Connections to classical texts or poetry
   - Cultural connotations: Broader cultural associations
   - Gender appropriateness: How suitable for the intended gender

7. Name Flexibility
   - Formal/informal usage: How it works in different contexts
   - International considerations: How it translates globally
   - Nickname potential: Natural shortening options
   - Writing style variations: How it appears in different calligraphy styles

8. Overall Assessment
   - Strengths: [Key positive attributes]
   - Concerns: [Potential issues or drawbacks]
   - Recommendation Rating: [Scale 1-10]

Example analysis

To illustrate how this works in practice, here’s an actual analysis for one of our shortlisted names, 萧旭霖 (Xiāo Xùlín):

*### Example Analysis: 萧旭霖 (Xiāo Xù Lín)

**1. Basic Information:**
- Characters: 萧旭霖
- Pinyin: Xiāo Xù Lín
- Meaning: "Rising sun abundance" or "Dawn's blessing"

**2. Structural Analysis:**
- Stroke Count:
  - Surname (萧): 12 strokes
  - Middle character (旭): 6 strokes
  - Last character (霖): 16 strokes
  - Given name total: 22 strokes - Moderately auspicious
  - Full name total: 34 strokes - Highly auspicious

**3. Elemental Balance:**
- Character 1 (萧): Metal
- Character 2 (旭): Fire (sunrise)
- Character 3 (霖): Water (strong Water element)
- Overall: Excellent dynamic balance with Metal (surname), Fire and Water (given name)
- Bazi flexibility: The Water in 霖 perfectly supports the Wood Dragon year, while balancing our family's Fire elements

**4. Phonetic Analysis:**
- Tone progression: 1-4-2
- Flow assessment: The flow from first tone to fourth to second creates a pleasing rhythm
- Dialectal considerations: Consistent pronunciation across Mandarin, Cantonese, and Hakka dialects
- Potential pronunciation issues: None identified; "Lin" works internationally and is easily pronounced across cultures

**5. Cultural Safety Check:**
- Historical figure conflicts: No significant namesakes in Chinese history
- Modern figure conflicts: No notable contemporary figures with this name
- Regional meaning checks: Positive associations across mainland China and Southeast Asian Chinese communities
- Dialect meaning checks: No negative homonyms in major Chinese dialects
- Homonym analysis: No concerning sound-alike words

**6. Meaning Depth:**
- Individual character significance: 
  - 旭 represents new beginnings, rising energy, and the morning sun
  - 霖 symbolizes timely blessing, nurturing rain, and continuous abundance
- Combined imagery: A sunrise bringing beneficial rain—balanced energy of growth and nurturing
- Literary references: 霖 appears in classical texts referring to timely rain that nourishes crops
- Cultural connotations: Suggests balanced dynamism—both energizing and nurturing
- Gender appropriateness: Suitable for a boy, combining strength with nurturing qualities

**7. Name Flexibility:**
- Formal/informal usage: Works well in both professional and personal contexts
- International considerations: Both characters translate well conceptually; "Lin" is easily pronounced globally
- Nickname potential: "Lin" forms a natural nickname
- Writing style variations: Both characters maintain integrity across different calligraphy styles

**8. Overall Assessment:**
- Strengths:
  - Perfect elemental balance for Wood Dragon year
  - Beautiful meaning combining energy with nurturing
  - Excellent visual balance between simple and complex characters
  - International adaptability
  - Strong cultural associations without being overly common
- Concerns:
  - Contrast in stroke count between middle and last character is significant
  - May require explanation of meaning to non-Chinese speakers

- Recommendation Rating: 9/10

While these systematic steps might make the process sound mechanical, the experience was anything but. Each AI-generated suggestion sparked conversations between my wife and me about our values, our cultural identities, and our hopes for our child. The technology may have provided the framework, but the journey was deeply personal and emotionally resonant.

The human touch

While AI proved remarkably helpful in analysing and generating options, the final decision remained deeply human. AI could tell us that 萧旭霖 (Xiāo Xùlín) had “perfect elemental balance for Wood Dragon year” and “beautiful meaning of supportive abundance,” but it couldn’t tell us which name felt right when spoken aloud.

Some insights from our process:

1. AI excels at systematic analysis – It can process thousands of character combinations against multiple criteria in seconds, something even the most knowledgeable human naming expert would find daunting.
2. Cultural nuance requires human oversight – While AI understands rules and references, the subtleties of cultural significance still benefit from human intuition and experience.
3. Emotional resonance remains human territory – The feeling when you say a name and think “that’s the one”—that magical moment belongs to humans alone.
4. AI reduces bias and expands possibilities – It suggests combinations a human might not consider, freeing parents from being limited by personal preference or familiarity.

Final decision

Since we were choosing the names before the baby was born, we didn’t have the baby’s bazi that required the time of birth to derive. Thus, we got the AI to do another round of checks against our shortlist when we had the baby’s bazi.

Based on the baby’s bazi, we could determine what elements are lacking and balance accordingly with the name. For example, if the time of birth already has Fire, we would avoid names with Fire and prefer names with Water.

I actually planned for this by getting the AI to come up with options that are more versatile in balancing, and variations that would preserve the sound and stroke counts while changing the element through switching radicals.

It’s illegal for healthcare professionals to reveal the baby’s gender during birth in China, so our shortlist included both masculine and feminine names.

Beyond Chinese names

The parallels between Eastern and Western naming considerations are striking once you look closely. Where Chinese parents might worry about stroke counts and elemental balance, Western parents often fret about name popularity rankings and family traditions.

Both approaches seek to provide children with names that carry positive associations and set them up for success—just through different cultural lenses. AI can help bridge these approaches by analysing names through multiple cultural frameworks simultaneously.

Even if you’re not naming a child in Chinese, the AI-assisted approach offers valuable lessons:

• Comprehensive analysis: Consider multiple dimensions of a name beyond just how it sounds
• Cultural verification: Check for unintended meanings or associations across cultures
• Future adaptability: Think about how the name will work in different contexts throughout life
• Meaning layers: Look for depth and resonance that grows with your child

For Western names, AI can help check popularity trends, cultural associations, nickname potential, and even how the name pairs with siblings’ names—all factors that contribute to finding that perfect match.

Balancing tradition & technology

What fascinates me most about this process is how it represents the bridge between ancient traditions and cutting-edge technology. Chinese naming practices date back thousands of years, yet here we are using neural networks to carry those traditions forward.

It’s a reminder that technology works best not when it replaces human culture, but when it helps preserve and enhance it. The AI doesn’t choose the name—it simply helps parents navigate the complex considerations with greater confidence and insight.

In a way, this approach mirrors my own journey of straddling cultural worlds. Just as I find harmony between East and West, traditional and modern, the AI-assisted naming process finds balance between age-old wisdom and contemporary tools.

Final thoughts

Choosing a name remains one of the most personal decisions parents make. It’s a gift of identity, a first legacy given to a child before they’ve even taken their first breath. While AI can inform this process, the magic still happens in the hearts of those who will whisper that name with love for decades to come.

When we finally settled on Yifei, there was a moment of shared clarity between my wife and I. The name simply felt right in a way that’s difficult to articulate—a feeling AI could never replicate. When we shared it with our families, they expressed a liking for the name, aside from the concerns about the complex stroke count. The blend of old wisdom and new technology seemed to bridge generational gaps in an unexpected way.

If you’re expecting and considering how to approach naming, remember that AI can be a helpful guide on your journey—but the final choice belongs to your heart alone.