Translating 李明 as “plum bright” looks methodical: 李 can mean plum and 明 can mean bright. The result is still wrong. 李 is the family name; 明 is the given name. A surname identifies the family and is not normally folded into a word-for-word explanation of the given name.
First separate the family name from the given name
A modern Han Chinese name commonly has a one-character surname followed by a one- or two-character given name. In 王静, the given name is 静. In 陈思远, it is 思远. A compound surname changes the division: 欧阳修 is read as 欧阳 / 修, not 欧 / 阳修. If the name is split incorrectly, a detailed translation will only make the mistake look more convincing.
Surnames can also be ordinary words. 李 may refer to a plum tree and 马 to a horse, but people with these surnames were not necessarily named after fruit or animals. In an English explanation, the surname is usually romanized while the given name receives the semantic discussion.
Dictionary meanings must return to the whole name
明 can suggest brightness or clarity. 宁 may evoke peace. 远 can refer to physical distance and can also suggest a far-reaching outlook or ambition. Which association mattered to the parents depends on the other character and on their intentions.
A two-character name is not a pair of dictionary cards. 思远 may suggest thoughtful foresight or broad aspiration. 雨桐 works more like an image of rain and a paulownia tree. Some names are chosen partly for sound, tone, written balance, or the way they flow after the surname. They were never meant to have one fixed English sentence as a translation.
An outsider can describe the associations a name commonly creates. Only the person or the family can confirm which of those associations motivated the choice.
Some meanings stay inside the family
Siblings or cousins of the same generation may share a generation character. It can come from a sequence recorded in a family genealogy, while the other character is chosen individually. A name may also remember a season, a place, or an event surrounding a birth. Those stories are often invisible on the page.
Names also carry traces of their period. Research on twentieth-century Chinese naming records shifts between one- and two-character given names, while political ideals and changing tastes affected the characters parents favoured. A name can sound characteristic of an era, but that impression cannot establish a person’s exact age.
To explain a Chinese name, separate surname and given name, check the common naming associations of each character, listen to the given name as a whole, and then ask the person. The first three steps produce a responsible interpretation. The last may reveal the family story behind it.