Mei

Mei is a Chinese name whose meaning depends on the character used to write it. 美 is associated with beauty, while 梅 refers to the plum tree or its blossom. These characters do not have identical tones in Mandarin, even though both are commonly written Mei when tone marks are omitted in English.

Mei can stand alone or appear as part of a longer given name. In Pixar’s Turning Red, Meilin Lee is called Mei, offering a familiar example of the shorter form within a two-part name. The plum blossom also has a long place in Chinese art and seasonal imagery. Choosing the written character preserves that specific meaning, which the three Latin letters alone cannot fully communicate.