Is Lot a Hokkien name?

[elmer]

A distant relative of mine, born in the early 20th century, somewhere between 1907 and 1920 was called Lie Lot Nio. My question is, is Lot a Hokkien name, or is this a Chinese woman with a Dutch name?

regards,
Elmer

[amhoanna]

Most likely, since Lie 李 and Nio 娘 are clearly Hokkien elements. Lot is kind of mystifying. I wonder what sound that final -t would really make if a Dutch speaker was reading it.

[elmer]

I am Dutch and my family came from the Dutch East-Indies. The Chinese names in my family are generally phonetic translations of how the Dutch heard the Hokkien pronounciation of th name. Although in this case the English probably would have written the name the same. In my family there are more examples of Chinese woman being given Dutch names, leading to Chinese / Dutch combiations. E.g. Lie Floorje Nio, Lie Olly Nio, etc. Lot actually is a Dutch name, although more often it is seen as Lotje or Lotte. The final t sound is a very sharp 't'. If it were a soft t-sound, it would have been followed by an 'h'. So that is were my question came from, if in this case Lot indeed is a Dutch name, or if somebody knows this as an Hokkien name.

regards,
Elmer

[amhoanna]

What does the "o" in Lot sound like?

If "Lot" sounds like "lot" in RP English, then I'd say it's not a Hokkien name. If it rhymes with English "foot", though, then it could be Hokkien. But I have a hard time imagining someone naming their daughter that. Ditto if it sounds like U.S. English "lot".

[elmer]

Lot is not a Chinese name; I found that it is an abbreviation of Charlotte

regards,
Elmer