Nigerian Sinologist Sheriff Ghali Ibrahim. [Photo by Jiang Wanjuan/chinadaily.com.cn]

Sheriff Ghali Ibrahim, lecturer at the Department of Political Science and International Relations at University of Abuja in Nigeria. His research areas include international politics and the Communist Party of China and economic prosperity.

My Chinese name is Xie Lifu (谢里夫). I got the name in 2008, from my Chinese teacher at China Normal University when I first came to China to study the language. I am already used to my Chinese name, I have been called this name for four years in China, and now I feel happy whenever the name is used.

You can get your Chinese name from your English, Arabic, French or traditional name. Before you come to China as a Sinologist, you should have a Chinese name to use on your arrival.

Fatima Daulet teaches Chinese in Kazakhstan. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Fatima Daulet, professor in Chinese language teaching with Al-Farabi Kazakh National University in Kazakhstan.

To be honest, I don't have a Chinese name. Of course, I use Chinese letters that sound like my name. For example, in English my name is spelled as "Fatima". In the beginning I used letters法提玛(reads "fa ti ma"), because that's exactly how my name sounds.

However, through time, I changed the letter 提 (ti) to a more sounding letter 蒂(di), which means "flower". I have Chinese friends that insist on 法吉玛 (fa ji ma). 吉(ji)－is 吉祥(jixiang, meaning auspiciousness) in Chinese. Just like most Chinese people, I'm superstitious, and just like my friends I believe that this letter will bring happiness and luck. That's why, 法蒂玛 (fa di ma) and 法吉玛 (fa ji ma) are both acceptable for me.