Guide
My teacher gave me a Chinese name
If it appeared in week one of Mandarin class, there is a good chance it is a pronunciation key, not a name. That is a systems problem. The teacher was not trying to embarrass you.
Why teachers do this
A class of thirty, a seating chart, and a need to call on people. Looking up John, Mary, Kevin, Sarah in a pinyin table is a complete solution to that problem. It is a non-solution to “what would this person be named if they were named in Chinese.”
The table is the same one newscasters use. It is public, consistent, and wrong for personal names. See native vs transliteration.
What you were probably given
- 约翰 for John
- 玛丽 or 玛丽亚 for Mary / Maria
- 凯文 for Kevin
- 莎拉 for Sarah — also salad-adjacent
- A 娜 / 莉 / 丽 tacked on because you are a girl in the room
- Something “cute” (好天使) that is a caption
Is it offensive?
Almost never. It is fake in the structural sense: a native would not pick it, and might wince when they have to say it on a roll call. That wince is aimed at the chart, not at you. If a name is actually a dirty homophone, say so with a specific reason — which is what the checker is for.
Do you have to keep it?
No. Classroom names are not legal names, not family names, and not obligations. Kill means: do not print it on a résumé and expect it to land. Keep, when it happens, means the grammar is already right — sometimes a teacher who knew the difference handed out 陆克文-shaped names. Rare. Possible.
What this site will not do
It will not generate a replacement, sell a reading, or pretend there is a live vote on your name. Paste what you were given. Read the verdict. If you later want a name natives would actually use, that is a different door: NativeChineseName.com.