Chinese Name

Hi
Can anyone please tell me whether the name Ruifei is for a male or female? Also, how do I pronounce it? I have to call someone on Monday and it is important enough that i don't want to stuff it up.
Sorry, no idea if it is Cantonese or Mandarin, hence the reference to it being chinese.

Thanks

Hi.
Ruifei is a Chinese name (standard Mandarin)
But I cannot help u in how to pronounce it due to the lack of the Chinese character. I mean, as you know, Mandarin is a tonal language. Each han yu pin yin (such as rui) can pronounce in all the 4 tones.
All I can help you is that this name is a 2 words name. You will say it as Rui Fei. ('Rui' and ' Fei')

Also, this name can be used for both male and female. There is also no way to be sure is the peson is a male or female.
I suggested you will just have to call, looking for 'Rui Fei' since you only have the name.

I attached this Pin Yin table for you to have an understanding of Han Yu Pin Yin. Hope it helps.
What is Han Yu Pin Yin
The Pin Yin table

Therefore,
Rui = r ui
Fei = f + ei

As stated in the wikipedia website:
Rules given in terms of English pronunciation:
Rui
R = similar to the English r in rank, but with the lips spread and with the tongue curled upwards
ui = as u ei; here, the i is pronounced like ei

Fei
f = as in English
ei = as in "hey"

Hope this will help.
Again, like I said, you can only get the sound right, but not the tone.
Still it is better than nothing. :)

You don't have to worry about tones because you will not be speaking in Chinese.

"r'way fay" is how you pronounce it. Trust me, that will be close enough.

I don't know if it's a man or womans name but you will probably be able to tell as soon as they start talking.

Even with a lot of practice, rui is one of the hardest sounds to pronounce correctly in Chinese; the Chinese r is always difficult and the u and i are a dipthong, not a single sound.

No matter what, it's almost certainly going to come out of your mouth sounding like ray, and that will do; indeed, it will come across clearer than a contorted effort to imitate the correct Chinese.

Thanks for your help.

I wanted to know if the person was male or female simply so I can refer to them as he or she rather than he/she or some such reference when discussing him/her prior to the call.

Ray fay is best then if I cant pronounce the r-way sound? Good to know. I would have otherwise said roof-ee!!

Yes, the name's composed of two characters, the first is rui and the second fei, but the romanising convention is to run them together in a personal name, unless it would be ambiguous. Obviously, this can be confusing if you're not familiar with Hanyu Pinyin and don't know where the break goes.