Simplified and traditional forms: what actually changes
A traditional-looking character is not always a safe one-click replacement for a simplified character.
Writing system versus identity
Simplified and traditional characters are writing conventions, not two different people or two automatic pronunciations. Some conversions depend on context and some modern names are deliberately written in one form. For a person’s own name, use the form they give you.
Why we verify per name
Unicode documents one-to-many and context-sensitive mappings in Unihan data. A generator should therefore not manufacture a “traditional variant” and claim equivalence without checking the exact character and name. Our first edition uses simplified forms as its baseline and shows alternatives only after review.
宁 and 寧 illustrate a commonly related pair, but the fact that one pair is straightforward does not license automatic conversion everywhere.
What to do with this
If a particular region or script matters to you, ask a literate local speaker to verify the final written form.
Sources & limits
Sources support the specific facts cited above. An editorial name interpretation is not an ancient quotation or proof of family ancestry.