黎明
Lí Míng · tones 2-2
Meaning: dawn
Character breakdown
Each character in 黎明 on its own — radical, stroke count, and core meaning.
- 黎lí
- Radical
- 黍
- Strokes
- 15
- Meaning
- dark, multitude
- 明míng
- Radical
- 日
- Strokes
- 8
- Meaning
- bright, clear
How it sounds
Tone pattern 2-2 (rising + rising).
Two rising tones. Gentle and optimistic — names like this often feel hopeful.
Style: classical-poetic
Vocabulary from classical poetry (Tang, Song eras). Evokes a literary sensibility while remaining usable for modern children.
Pairing with a surname
2-character given name
Standard structure for modern Chinese names. Pairs naturally with most common single-character surnames (王, 李, 张, 陈, 刘) for a 3-character full name. Soft sound profile complements stronger common surnames well. Always read the full name aloud with your surname before finalizing to check for accidental homophones.