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Many a time, English names are translated into Chinese based on the pronunciation of the word. For example, “David” is “大卫” in Chinese (pronounced as Da-Wei), “Mary” is “玛丽” in Chinese (pronounced as Ma-Li), “Kate” is “凯特” in Chinese (pronounced as Kai-Te) and the list goes on. However, have you ever wondered why “John” is called “约翰”? “约翰” is pronounced as “Yue-Han”, which is nothing like the pronunciation of “John” in English. So, why “约翰”? The origin of the name “John” is said to trace back to the Hebrew name Yohanan, which means “Graced by God”. The translated name for “John” is based on the pronunciation of the Hebrew name Yohanan instead of the English pronunciation of “John” – hence the Chinese translation “约翰” (Yue-Han). English names are always translated into Chinese in a way that uses the sounds of its original word. Similarly, “Joseph” is translated as 约瑟夫 (pronounced as Yue-Se-Fu). It takes the pronunciation of its original Hebrew name “Yosef” instead of the English pronunciation of Joseph. If you have always been wondering why John is called 约翰, now you know it!