Chinese Naming – Substitution by homophones

The paper deals with the method of the substitution by homophones, that is extensively used in Chinese onomastic fields, like toponymy or anthroponymy. The method of the substitution by homophones is mainly aimed at reshaping already existing names by replacing their previous form, for some reasons unwanted. however, it is also broadly applied to create new names by using words which are homophonic with the words denoting the idea they symbolize. The paper presents some various reasons and aims of the use of the method in the field of Chinese geographical names (place names, toponyms), and these are: personal name taboo, unwanted place names, simplification of the Chinese writing system, adaptation of foreign geographical names. The paper also analyses the use of the method in the field of Chinese personal names (anthroponyms), and these are: creation of so-called good Chinese names, dealing with some troublesome Chinese surnames, creating of Chinese female counter-commendatory names and Chinese given names as equivalents of foreign given names.