On Chinese Names

I was reading an interview with Cindy Pon at Squeaky Books where the blogger asked her about the names of her two brothers in The Silver Phoenix as well as why the titular character has a name that is translated and sounds like a title. It was a very good question:

One of the things I was really curious about in the books were the names of the characters. Some characters had one-part names, some had two, and some had three! Is there any meaning to how many names there are? And do you have to do extra research to create these names (more than someone who makes up random European-sounding names, I mean)? I’m specifically curious about Li Rong And Silver Phoenix. Because wasn’t his family name Li? So is he Li Li Rong? And why does Silver Phoenix have a name that seems more like a title? Continue reading