Abstract: Chinese people first discovered and named the South China Sea Islands. According to historical records, since the Han Dynasty, each dynasty has named the South China Sea Islands. There have been four times of naming processes of the South China Sea Islands by the Chinese government: Li Zhun’s naming of Xisha Islands during his patrol of the sea; Committee on land and water map’s naming of the South China Sea Islands; Naming of the South China Sea Islands by the Ministry of the interior of the Republic of China; Naming of the South China Sea Islands by Chinese Commission on Geographical Names. The background, process, characteristics of each naming process of the South China Sea Islands, as well as the evolution of geographical names, the systematization and standardization of geographical names, the existing problems and the significance to the territorial sovereignty of each naming process of the South China Sea Islands were in detail discussed in this paper.

Key words: Chinese government, the South China Sea Islands, naming