How to Say "Her Name Is" in Chinese

她叫

tā jiào

In Chinese, the phrase to say "her name is" is 她叫 (tā jiào).

她叫 is used to introduce a female person by stating her name.

What does it mean word for word?

The phrase literally translates to "she is called".

While English uses the possessive form "her name is", Chinese uses the subject 她 (she) followed by the verb 叫 (to be called).

In this construction, the verb 叫 (jiào) is used to mean "to be called" or "to be named".

tā jiào

While 她 means 'she' in writing, it sounds identical to the words for 'he' 他 and 'it' 它. In spoken Chinese, you cannot tell the gender of the person being introduced without context.
The character 她 is a relatively modern invention. Before the 20th century, the masculine 他 was used for both men and women in written Chinese.
The verb 叫 also means 'to shout' or 'to yell'. Depending on the tone and context, the same word used for a name can describe a loud noise.

她叫玛丽，是我的秘书。
Her name is Mary, she is my secretary.
This sentence is useful for showing how to introduce a person and their occupation using 她叫.
Tatoeba #383000 by sysko, translation #8258008 by francaisr0wlet
她的名字是李美
Her name is Li Mei
她叫小红
She is called Xiao Hong
她叫小王。
Tā jiào Xiǎo Wáng.
Her name is Xiao Wang.

At a coffee shop, a man introduces his female colleague to a friend.

俊杰 Junjie

佳怡，这是我的同事。
Jiāyí, zhè shì wǒ de tóngshì.
Jiayi, this is my colleague.
佳怡 Jiayi

你好，很高兴认识你。
Nǐ hǎo, hěn gāoxìng rènshi nǐ.
Hello, nice to meet you.
俊杰 Junjie

她叫林芳。
Tā jiào Lín Fāng.
Her name is Lin Fang.
佳怡 Jiayi

林芳，你好。
Lín Fāng, nǐ hǎo.
Hello, Lin Fang.

Sources

⭐Share⭐ to appreciate human effort 🙏