3 The generation name comes from the words in a poem. Traditionally, each family has its own “generation poem.” The first generation uses the first word in the poem for its generation name. The second generation uses the second word, and so on. 4 The first name can be almost any word in Chinese. Often girls’ names are words for beauty or flowers and boys’ names are words for strength and health. Usually the Chinese don’t name their children after famous people or relatives.