李达雷 Lǐ Dáléi
- 李 lǐ Family name
- 达 dá to reach
- 雷 léi thunder
李 is a common family name; 达 and 雷 echo dá léi, how Chinese begins Darrell (达雷尔).

达雷尔 Dáléi'ěr
我叫达雷尔。 Wǒ jiào Dáléi'ěr. My name is Darrell.
Darrell en chino se escribe 达雷尔 (Dáléi'ěr).
李达雷 Lǐ Dáléi
李 is a common family name; 达 and 雷 echo dá léi, how Chinese begins Darrell (达雷尔).
张东磊 Zhāng Dōnglěi
张 is a common family name; 东 and 磊 echo dá léi, how Chinese begins Darrell (达雷尔).
陈德乐 Chén Délè
陈 is a common family name; 德 and 乐 echo dá léi, how Chinese begins Darrell (达雷尔).
Add your last name for a family name that matches it.
HSK 1 · Now read them in a real story
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Darrell is 达雷尔 (Dáléi'ěr) in Chinese. To say “My name is Darrell”, say 我叫达雷尔 (Wǒ jiào Dáléi'ěr).
Nothing as a whole: Chinese picks 达雷尔 for how it sounds, Dáléi'ěr, close to Darrell. On its own, 达 means to reach and 雷 thunder.
Darrell is written 达雷尔, 3 characters: 达 (6 strokes), 雷 (13 strokes), 尔 (5 strokes). Each is drawn stroke by stroke on this page, in the order you write it.
By sound, with characters picked for how they are said: Michael is 迈克尔 (Màikè’ěr). Newspapers, subtitles and books use one usual form for each common name.
A name made the Chinese way: a one-character family name first, then one or two characters picked for their meaning. Many learners use one in class.
It’s a starting point. Ask a Chinese speaker or teacher before you put it on anything that lasts, like a tattoo or a document.
Meanings from our own dictionary. Chinese writes some names more than one way.