Asian Stage Names & Real Names

Quick answer: This section covers Chinese, Taiwanese, Hong Kong, Malaysian Chinese, Singaporean, Vietnamese, Macanese, and other non-Japanese Asian names — stage names, pen names, and historical courtesy names — matched to a documented real name. Japan has its own section, because Japanese naming customs (芸名, 四股名, 本名) are a separate system and already have a full guide.

Why this is not the Japan page

The Japan section is for Japanese stage names, pen names, sumo ring names, and related traditions. A directory at the bottom of that page, labeled "More Japanese names," also listed people who are not Japanese. Their pages use Chinese characters, so they were grouped with Japan by mistake.

Those people belong here. A Japanese ring name still belongs on Japan even when the person was born elsewhere — for example, Korean-born Rikidōzan or the Mongolian yokozuna on the sumo shikona page. The test is the naming custom, not the shape of the characters.

How names work across this region

East Asian names often come in layers, and the same Chinese characters can point to different customs in China, Korea, and Japan.

In the Chinese tradition, a person has a family name (姓, xìng) and a personal name (名, míng). Historically, many men also received a courtesy name (字, zì) in adulthood, and writers or painters often took a literary name or sobriquet (号, hào) or a pen name (笔名, bǐmíng). The Bibliothèque nationale de France's guidance on Chinese names draws that same distinction. On this site, Qing painters such as Bian Shoumin (born Bian Weiqi) and Wu Changshuo (born Wu Junqing) are examples of that older pattern.

Modern entertainers more often use a stage name. Shu Qi's professional name is 舒淇; her documented real name is 林立慧. Ti Lung is the stage name of Thomas Tam Fu-wing (譚富榮). Papi Jiang is the online name of Jiang Yilei (姜逸磊). Searchers looking for 艺名, 真名, or 本名 on a Chinese-language page are usually asking for that documented legal or birth name.

Korea already has a large, separate list: K-pop idols' real names (케이팝 아이돌 본명). This hub points there instead of copying it. Japan stays at /japan/.

What you'll find here

• Chinese, Taiwanese, Hong Kong, Malaysian Chinese, Singaporean, Macanese, and Vietnamese stage names, pen names, and historical courtesy names
• Diaspora figures whose Chinese names are part of the public record, such as I. M. Pei, James Wong Howe, Ha Jin, and Jimmy O. Yang
• Links to the Japan section and to K-pop idol real names

Every profile below already exists on the site as a real-name page. We list a name only when it is publicly documented.

Profiles

• 9m88 — 湯毓綺 — Taiwanese singer, songwriter, and actress
• Amber An — 廖婧伶 — Taiwanese actress, singer, television host, and model; professional name 安心亞
• Amber Chia — 謝麗萍 — Malaysian model, actress, and TV host
• Angelababy — 杨颖 — Chinese singer, model, and actress
• Bian Shoumin — 边维祺 — Qing dynasty Chinese painter, also known as 边寿民
• Bing Xin — 谢婉莹 — Chinese writer; pen name 冰心
• Cao Xueqin — 曹霑 — Qing dynasty Chinese novelist and poet
• Chapman To — 吳卓彰 — Hong Kong-Taiwanese actor; professional name 杜汶澤
• Chor Yuen — 張寶堅 — Hong Kong film director, screenwriter, and actor; professional name 楚原
• Du Fu — 杜甫 — Chinese poet of the Tang dynasty
• Giddens Ko — 柯景騰 — Taiwanese novelist and filmmaker
• Ha Jin — 金雪飞 — Chinese-American poet and novelist; pen name 哈金
• I. M. Pei — 貝聿銘 — Chinese-American architect
• James Wong Howe — 黃宗霑 — Chinese-born American cinematographer, born Wong Tung Jim
• Jay Chou — 周杰倫 — Taiwanese singer-songwriter, actor, director, and businessman
• Jenny Tseng — 甄淑詩 — Macanese singer; professional name 甄妮
• Jimmy O. Yang — 歐陽萬成 — Hong Kong–American stand-up comedian and actor
• Kasiwa — 黃克雄 — Taiwanese rapper, singer, and songwriter; professional name 葛西瓦
• Khuông Việt — 吳真流 — Vietnamese Buddhist monk and poet (Ngô Chân Lưu)
• Leon Lai — 黎明 — Hong Kong actor, singer, film director, and businessman
• Li Shijun — 李士俊 — Chinese author, editor, and translator
• Li Xueqin — 李雪阳 — Chinese stand-up comedian; professional name 李雪琴
• Lin Huiyin — 林徽音 — Chinese architect and writer, also known as 林徽因
• Mark Chao — 趙又廷 — Taiwanese-Canadian actor
• MC HotDog — 姚中仁 — Taiwanese rapper
• Mu Xin — 孙璞 — Chinese writer; pen name 木心
• Papi Jiang — 姜逸磊 — Chinese influencer and actor, also known as Papi酱
• Rene Liu — 劉若英 — Taiwanese singer-songwriter, actress, and director
• Shu Qi — 林立慧 — Taiwanese actress and filmmaker; professional name 舒淇
• Sun Tzu — 孫武 — Chinese military general and strategist
• Tang Yin — 唐寅 — Ming dynasty Chinese painter and poet; courtesy name 伯虎
• Ti Lung — 譚富榮 — Hong Kong actor and martial artist; professional name 狄龍
• Wan Wan — 胡家瑋 — Taiwanese cartoonist, illustrator, and actress; pen name 彎彎
• Wang Sa — 王锦清 — Singaporean comedian; professional name 王沙
• Wang Yuanqi — 王原祁 — Qing dynasty Chinese painter
• Wei Hui — 周卫慧 — Chinese novelist
• Wu Changshuo — 吳俊 — Chinese calligrapher, painter, and seal artist, also known as 吳昌碩; born Wu Junqing
• Wu Nien-jen — 吳文欽 — Taiwanese screenwriter, director, and writer; professional name 吳念真

Privacy rule

We list a real name only when the person, an official profile, or a reliable published source has made it public. We do not publish rumors, leaks, or "doxxing." If you think an entry is wrong or should be removed, use the submit form and we will review it.

FAQ

Sources

1. Bibliothèque nationale de France, "Usages nationaux : noms chinois" — family name (姓), personal name (名), courtesy name (字), and literary or pen names (号, 笔名).
2. Japan Stage Names & Real Names — Japanese naming customs, kept as a separate section.
3. K-pop Idols' Real Names — Korean idol 본명 already collected on the site.
4. The individual RealNameOf real-name pages linked above, each of which cites a public source for that person's documented name.