Many international brands have a strong presence in China and have really cool Chinese names, let’s discover them together !
路易威登 (Lùyì Wēidēng) — Louis Vuitton
路易威登 is a very close phonetic imitation to Louis Vuitton. 威 means power, as in 威力 (wēilì). 登 refers to ascending to great heights, as in 登山 (dēngshàng), which means climbing a mountain.
古琦 (Gǔqí) — Gucci
Gucci’s Chinese name is also a phonetic imitation, although 古 means ancient. Think: 古代 (gǔdài), ancient, or 古典 (gǔdiǎn), classical.
琦 can be a kind of valuable stone, such a jade. So Gucci in Chinese alludes to ancient fine jade.
阿迪达斯 (ādídásī) — Adidas
Adidas has adopted a straight phonetic imitation in its Chinese name. Although the Chinese name for Adidas does not have a particularly strong Chinese meaning, the company has done well to connect with Asian culture.
可口可乐 (Kěkǒukělè) — Coca-Cola
Coca-Cola has an awesome Chinese name that suggests both joy (乐) and great taste (可口).
麦当劳 (Màidāngláo) — McDonald’s
McDonald’s phonetically similar Chinese name doesn’t have a particularly meaningful translation, unless you want to point out that 麦 is wheat, and hamburger buns are made from wheat. One could note that 劳 means hard-working, and the staff at McDonald’s do work hard for their minimum wage.
宝马 (Bǎomǎ) — BMW
That is the word BMW chose for its Chinese name, as its name means “precious horse.”
宝 is from 宝贝 (bǎobèi), for precious darling, and 宝贵 (bǎoguì), for very valuable.
And because babies are very precious, in Chinese they are called 宝宝 (bǎobǎo).
This is not to be confused with 包包 (bāobāo), which is your handbag, or 抱抱 (bàobào), which is a hug.
宜家 (Yíjiā) — IKEA
宜 comes from 便宜 (biànyí), convenient. Also, 便宜 (piányi), cheap. And 适宜 (shìyí), suitable.
家 of course means home. So when you come to IKEA, or 宜家, you can expect to furnish your home suitably, cheaply and conveniently.
喜力 (Xǐlì) — Heineken
Heineken, sometimes also called 海尼根 (Hǎinígēn), has chosen words of strength and happiness to represent its beers in China. 喜 comes from 欢喜 (huānxǐ), or happiness. 力 is strength, as in 努力 (nǔlì), to work hard or put in great effort, and 能力 (nénglì), meaning strength or power.
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