Like many Chinese, Sun Yat-sen used different names at different points in his life and he is known in Chinese under several of them. Names are not taken lightly in Chinese culture. This reverence goes as far back as Confucius and his insistence on "rectification of names." In addition to the names and aliases listed below, Sun Yat-sen also used other aliases while he was a revolutionary in exile.
Genealogical name: Sun Tak-ming
The "real" name of Sun Yat-sen, the name inscribed in the genealogical records of his family, is Sun Tak-ming. This "genealogical name" is what extended relatives of the Sun family would have known him by. This is a name that was used in formal occasions. The first Chinese character of the given name,, is the generation character which he shared with his brother and his relatives on the same generation line. Traditionally, this name was not used in intercourse with people outside of the family, and inside China or Taiwan almost nobody knows that his real name was Sun Tak-ming, and even many Chinese people wrongly assume that Tak-ming was his courtesy name.
Sun's original name was Sun Wen. This is also referred to as his big name. Colloquially, the "big name" is also known as the school name, whereas the "milk name" is known as the "small name". His name Sun Wen is very well known among Chinese. After attaining public office, Sun consistently used this name, Sun Wen, to sign official documents.
Traditionally, Chinese families would wait a certain number of years before officially naming their offspring. In the meantime, they used so-called "milk names" which were given to the infant shortly after his birth, and which were known only by the close family. Thus, his child name was Sun Tai-tseung. So this name Sun Dìxiàng is also referred to as his small name. This name, however, was not the name that he received when he was born. Sun's parents dedicated his name to the deity Xuan Wu Shangdi, so the first character of his milk name was di, in reference to the god.
Baptised name: Sun Yut-sun (孫日新)
In 1883, 17-year-old Sun Yat-sen was baptized as a Christian when he started his studies in Hong Kong. On that occasion, he chose himself the baptized name of "Yut-sun", meaning "renew oneself daily".
Western name: Sun Yat-sen (孫逸仙)
This is the name he used while he was a student in Hong Kong around 1883. Au Fung-Chi gave Sun the name Yet-sen, which in Cantonese is pronounced "Yut-seen". As this was the name that he used in his frequent contacts with Westerners at the time, he became known under this name in the West. In China, almost nobody uses his Mandarin name Sun Yixian, but his Cantonese name Sun Yat-sen. When he signed his name in English, he used Sun Yat-sen, as his native language was Cantonese. A street in Macau has the name Avenida Dr. Sun Yat-sen. Many Chinese cities also have 逸仙路 Yìxiān Lù.
Courtesy names: Zàizhī (載之)
Later, Sun Yat-sen chose a courtesy name which was Zàizhī. Based on the Chinese philosophical saying "literature as a vehicle to convey the Tao". Courtesy names in China often tried to bear a connection with the personal name of the person. His courtesy name, however, was apparently seldom used, and is rarely known in the Chinese world. He has been referred to with surnameChen as Chen Zaizhi.
Japanese name: Nakayama Shō (中山樵)
In September 1895 young Japanese philosopherTōten Miyazaki was passionate about the revolutions in China. As a friend he wanted to help Sun while he was in Japan. When they arrived at the "Crane Hotel" in Miyazaki Prefecture, for Sun's safety, he used an alias name to register in the hotel. Previously on their travel they passed by a board that used the common Japanese family name. So he signed into the hotel book and was referred to under that name. He then added the Japanese personal name.
Chinese name: Sun Zhong-shan (孫中山)
After the establishment of the Republic of China in 1912, and he was no longer pursued by the Qing authorities, local people could refer to him as Sūn Wén again. But the name Zhong-shan, the Chinese pronunciation of his Japanese pseudonym, "Nakayama," was more commonly used later in his life. Today, the overwhelming majority of Chinese references to Sun use. Many cities in both mainland China and Taiwan feature streets and many other public facilities so named, for example Zhongshan Roads, Zhongshan Parks, Zhongshan warship. His hometown Heungshan County was renamed to Zhongshan apparently as an honour.
