People’s English names, in most cases, are transliterated into Chinese characters, which means they are translated into the Chinese characters which sound like the original English pronunciation. For instance, Jack is translated into Jie Ke, which sounds very close to the pronunciation of “Jack” in English. Therefore, when you introduce yourself or others to a Chinese, you don’t even have to bother to translate the English names. Yes, simply say them in English!
If you work among Chinese or even in China and choose to mingle with them, you may adopt a Chinese-looking and sounding name (usually three syllables, with first one as family name and the last two as first name), and the name has to be based on the sounding of all or part of the original English names, such as those of the former US Ambassadors to China: James Sasser was known to the Chinese as Shang Mujie and James R. Lilley as Li Jieming.
Chinese given names usually have some meanings, bearing the cultural background and idiosyncracy of those, usually their parents or grandparents, who name them.
