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I don't know if this is an actual first name, but I've heard of the Disney character and can't find anywhere of what her name means. I've seen clips of the film and I know the first part of her name is pronounced moo, but is the second part of her name pronounced lan as in can or lahn as in autobahn? I've heard both pronunciations of lan and lahn in the film, but which is the correct 1? I always call her by the can pronunciation and despite being set far from Greece, I'd love her to marry Hercules as he immediately comes after him, doesn't she? I can hear them chatting to each other and saying each other's names in my head and picture them kissing each other in my head and when watching the clips, I say Mulan's name when Hercules speaks and Hercules's name when Mulan speaks.
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It is an actual first name but I'm not sure if it's actually used in China or not at the moment (since the Chinese didn't react favourably to the Disney film of the same name).
The Disney character was based on a legendary ancient Chinese woman warrior called Hua (or Fa) Mulan (花 木蘭 or 花 木兰 if used in simplified Chinese) in which Hua is her surname.
Before I get to the pronunciation, let's get to the meanings of the Chinese characters used for the name. 木 means "tree, wood" while 蘭/兰 means "orchid." Overall, if you combine them together, the name Mulan would mean "lily magnolia."
Regarding the pronunciation, it's safe to say that it's actually pronounced moo-lan, not moo-lahn. As the pinyin for 木蘭/木兰 is written as Mùlán, let me go over how it should be pronounced. The 'moo' bit goes from a neutral tone to a high tone and the 'lan' bit goes from a low tone to a neutral tone. I can't really go over the details so I left you a Wikipedia page for it (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Standard_Chinese_phonology) and there's a section called 'Tones.' That's what I am talking about with regards to the tones. It's not the most reliable source but it's there if you want to look at it.
If I have gone over too much stuff, I'm sorry, but there is a lot of info that I need to put and clarify.
PS: If you want to know what her surname (花) means, it's "flower, blossom."
The Disney character was based on a legendary ancient Chinese woman warrior called Hua (or Fa) Mulan (花 木蘭 or 花 木兰 if used in simplified Chinese) in which Hua is her surname.
Before I get to the pronunciation, let's get to the meanings of the Chinese characters used for the name. 木 means "tree, wood" while 蘭/兰 means "orchid." Overall, if you combine them together, the name Mulan would mean "lily magnolia."
Regarding the pronunciation, it's safe to say that it's actually pronounced moo-lan, not moo-lahn. As the pinyin for 木蘭/木兰 is written as Mùlán, let me go over how it should be pronounced. The 'moo' bit goes from a neutral tone to a high tone and the 'lan' bit goes from a low tone to a neutral tone. I can't really go over the details so I left you a Wikipedia page for it (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Standard_Chinese_phonology) and there's a section called 'Tones.' That's what I am talking about with regards to the tones. It's not the most reliable source but it's there if you want to look at it.
If I have gone over too much stuff, I'm sorry, but there is a lot of info that I need to put and clarify.
PS: If you want to know what her surname (花) means, it's "flower, blossom."
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