More Chinese are given names in western style or just direct transliteration of Western names, according to a survey on the use of Chinese language.

Such Western names as Lina, Lucy or Jenny are widely used in Chinese names with characters following English tones, according to the survey called "Language Situation in China: 2006" by the Ministry of Education (MOE).

It found that there were names putting first names after given names, contrary to the Chinese style with an opposite sequence. Some people even have English letters as A, B, C in their names.

The survey also found more than 60 million Chinese names carried rarely used characters, probably to avoid repetition or show peculiarity.

"Only 20,000 to 30,000 characters can be identified by computers, far from satisfying the public demand in giving names," said Li Yuming, a MOE official in charge of language administration, attributing it to a cause of an increase of rare names.

"Name repetition in China are common because of a large population," Li said, adding there were more than 300,000 "Zhang Wei" across the country.

He suggested that police departments should set up a name reference system for the public to choose characters for names in order to avoid rarity or repetition.

The legislation on the use of characters in names is under way, according to police sources.