慈（ci）
Name meaning
慈 (ci) means kindness, compassion and protective care. In a name it feels gentle, humane and morally grounded rather than weak.
Practical naming use
慈 (ci) is a warm character with real ethical depth. Chinese readers connect it first with maternal care and humane feeling, but it can also sound judicial, scholarly and serious when anchored by a figure like 宋慈 (Songci) Song Ci. That duality makes it valuable for names that should feel caring without becoming weak or shapeless.
Pair 慈 (ci) with characters that add poise or steadiness, such as 慈宁 (Cining), 慈安 (Cian) Ci'an, 慈文 (Ciwen) or 慈和 (Cihe). The second character should keep the name calm and human.
慈宁 (Cining): Ci contributes kind, compassionate; Ning adds peaceful, settled.
Reference
Meng Jiao · The Wanderer's Song
Historical / name-use references
宋慈 (Song Ci)
Song Ci (1186-1249 CE) was the Southern Song judicial scholar famous for Xi Yuan Ji Lu, the classic forensic handbook. His given name gives 慈 (Ci) a serious historical use beyond family tenderness.