Example sentences
nǐ你de的míng名zì字zhēn真hǎo好tīng听。
Your name sounds nice.
míng名zì字xiě写zhè这ér儿。
Write your name here.
The story behind the character
名
夕 (dusk) on top, 口 (mouth) below. At dusk you can't see faces, so you call out your name. Xu Shen wrote 名, 自命也: "to name oneself."
字
宀 (roof) over 子 (child). A child born under the roof. The original meaning was to give birth, to nurture. Xu Shen wrote 字, 乳也. It only later came to mean "written character," because characters are also things you bring into being. Every 字 you write started out as a newborn baby.