Sarah in Chinese
How to write Sarah in Chinese, how to say it, and real Chinese names picked for it.
Sarah, written by sound
萨拉
Sàlā
- 萨sà
- 拉lā
This is how Sarah is written by sound: in the news, on maps and in translated books. Each character is there for its sound, so their meanings don't add up to anything.
You'll also see 莎拉, the everyday spelling.
But it isn't a Chinese name. Chinese parents choose a name for what it means, like the ones below.
Real Chinese names for Sarah
None of these sounds quite like Sarah, but each one is a real name Chinese parents give, with a meaning of its own. Tap the buttons to hear a character, watch it written, or write it yourself.
Classic name
安澜Ānlán
calm waves
ān
peace
lán
great waves
Poetic name
芷兰Zhǐlán
angelica and orchid
zhǐ
angelica, a fragrant herb
lán
orchid
Poetic name
汀兰Tīnglán
orchids by the water
tīng
islet, waterside
lán
orchid
Stroke order follows the mainland China standard; a few characters are written differently in Taiwan.
Get your own Chinese name
Sarah, get eight real names in the style you like (classic, poetic, wuxia…) and pick the one that feels like you. It takes a minute.
How Chinese names work
The family name comes first, and it is almost always one character: 王 Wáng, 李 Lǐ, 林 Lín. A few have two, like 欧阳 Ōuyáng.
The given name follows: one or two characters, chosen for what they mean. A virtue, a flower, a wish from the parents.
So with a family name in front, 安澜 becomes a full name such as 林安澜 (Lín Ānlán).
About the name Sarah
In the US, Sarah was the 4th most popular girls’ name of the 1990s. In 2025 it is number 90. In England and Wales it was number 18 in 1996 and is number 131 in 2025.
Sources: US Social Security Administration, Office for National Statistics (UK).