In this episode, Caitlin Barrett interviews Judy Wang about the many nuances of naming in China:
- The fundamentals of Chinese: An ideographic language where speakers often think meaning first
- Three strategic approaches for global brands entering China
- Why Chinese names are non-negotiable
- How cultural preferences shape naming
- How to consider dialects when choosing a name
Plus Caitlin guesses what "道可道，自由老子” means and, you guessed it, is wrong.
Want to go deeper? Read Judy’s report, What You Need To Know About Naming In China, along with all the other We Are Naming reports, right here: www.wearenaming.com/reports.
About Judy
Judy is the founder of Chopword brand naming studio. She has 15 years branding experience mixing brand communication and brand verbal identity development.
Since 2010, Judy started to focus on brand verbal identity creation and has served 500+ clients to help them find their brand names and verbal expressions.
Before founding Chopword, Judy worked for Labbrand as creative director of verbal identity department from 2013~2020, leading the team to win several awards and great reputations for home and aboard clients.
Judy believes in the power of language. She leads the development of the “Seven Senses of Naming” theory, which has been successfully applied to numerous projects, helping clients create iconic brand names that win market acclaim.
Judy’s famous naming case includes Tripadvisor 猫途鹰, Nespresso 浓遇, TheChuan 叠川, and ONVO 乐道.
About How the World Names
Building on our “What You Need to Know About Naming in…” reports, How the World Names is a limited-run interview series that dives deeper into what matters most when naming across borders. Each episode spotlights a We Are Naming partner’s home market, unpacking the linguistic quirks, cultural landscape, emerging naming styles, and practical insights that shape brand names around the globe.
