A surname of statesmen; Fan Zhongyan's motto 'worry before the world' is a timeless ideal.
What the character means
a model, exemplar, or style
Why it scores this way
Easy to say96
Reads the way it looks for an English speaker — no sounds English doesn't have.
Recognised in China70
Common enough that most Chinese speakers recognise it (roughly the top 100).
Easy to write75
9 strokes — a little practice and it flows.
People who carried this name
Fan Zhongyan — Song dynasty statesman (989–1052), author of the immortal motto on serving the people.
Fan Li — Fan Li was a strategist and statesman of the Yue State in the Spring and Autumn period, helped revive Yue, then became a legendary wealthy merchant known as Tao Zhu Gong.
Fan Chengda — Fan Chengda was a Southern Song poet and official, one of the 'Four Masters' of Southern Song poetry, renowned for his pastoral verse.