Period Chinese Names
Basic Naming Practices

Rev. 0, © 2004 Valerie L. Putman (known in the SCA as Yin Mei Li)
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Introduction
Surnames
Personal Names - Meaning
Personal Names - Multiple Names without Middle Names
Personal Names - Ming
Personal Names - Tzŭ
Personal Names - Hao
Personal Names - Other Types
Titles
Emperors
Full Name Examples
Endnotes

Introduction

Chinese names themselves apparently changed over time, but changes in naming practices appear to be very slow until fairly modern times. General naming practices in effect in the first century BCE were still in effect in the 19^th century AD.

It is logical to assume names varied geographically, ethnically, and chronologically. However, with two exceptions, this author does not yet have sufficient information to identify such variations. The first exception is an obviously regional variation, involving cases in which families with a surname based on a place name continued to live in and near that place. The second exception involves one particular written character, whose use in masculine personal names was apparently discontinued during our period. That exception will be described when at least one masculine name list is posted.

Variations between feminine and masculine personal names are easier to identify, and are briefly described later in this article (see, "Personal Names - Meaning").

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姓 Surnames

In China, a surname always precedes a person's given name and/or title.

Many Chinese surnames are much older than European surnames because Chinese people were required to have inherited surnames since antiquity.[1] Originally, a person inherited a 姓 hsing⁴ [xing⁴], which identified his or her maternal clan, and a 氏 shih⁴ [shi⁴], which identified his or her paternal clan. (It is interesting to note that, in modern times, hsing is defined as a surname, which Chinese inherit from their fathers, and shih is defined as a maiden name, which is, obviously, associated with a woman. These definitions seem opposite to their original clan associations.)

During the Warring States Period (475-221 BCE), additional surnames evolved and shih started to become family-specific surnames, still inherited through the father. Shih were used almost exclusively in official documents after the Chou Dynasty (after 221 BCE). (Clan-name hsing apparently were not abandoned then, but they became much less important as official or legal identifiers of people.)

Therefore, a period Han (ethnic Chinese person) had and used a surname inherited from his or her father. In addition, non-Han people who adopted Han culture, of which there were many, also had inherited surnames.

However, not all Chinese surnames were established by 221 BCE. Many surnames are ancient, but new surnames were established as needed even into modern times. Reasons for establishing a new surname included to reward, to punish, to recognize or celebrate family mergers, to respond to family branching or break-ups, to assimilate a non-Han group or family into Chinese culture, to escape enemies, to protect the rest of the family from one person's actions, to avoid having the same name as the emperor, and, occasionally, to simplify the character(s) with which an established surname was written. Further, a man could change his surname if he had sufficient cause, with or without establishing a new surname. However, entering a man's household as wife, concubine, or servant was not sufficient cause, in and of itself, for a woman to change her surname.

Most Chinese surnames are monosyllables, written with a single character, but there are some disyllabic surnames, written with two characters.

Like European names, many Chinese surnames were based on given names, ranks, titles, occupations, place names, family totems, and objects. However, in China the family members who select a name to establish as their surname typically based the surname on something associated with a common ancestor rather than on something directly associated with themselves. (For example, they would choose the name of a territory an ancestor governed during a previous dynasty, which might or might not be the place in which they are currently living.) In any case, people who established a new surname paid close attention to the name's meaning and associations, well aware that their selection affected future generations.

Eventually a list of period Chinese surnames will be posted. In the meantime, a good surname source in English is Sheau-yeuh J. Chao's In Search of Your Asian Roots, from which this section is mainly written and which is included in this paper's bibliography. A relatively short list of surnames is also posted in Academy of St. Gabriel Report 2346 (September 18, 2001).

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傒 Personal Names - Meaning

A period, personal, Chinese name is more than a label by which its bearer is called. Since ancient times, personal Chinese names were based on meanings that are carried by their monosyllabic, written characters. Certain characters appear to be popular in Chinese names, but even in these cases it is the syllable’s meaning, rather than its sound or look, that is of most concern. The basic meaning conveyed by a name's character(s) was considered even when the name was chosen because of somebody who previously bore the name. Even among period illiterate Chinese, the meaning of a personal name was much more important than its sound.

Because of their different roles in society, typical Chinese feminine names had different meanings than typical Chinese masculine names (for example, a woman's name meaning obedient, and a man's name meaning brave). Most personal names were flattering or auspicious, for example, alluding to traits that would be pleasing or advantageous for the bearer to possess or exhibit (for example, beauty or courage), or alluding to something that pleased someone to associate with the bearer (for example, a precious object).

However, a few Chinese people had names that seem, to us, to be very unflattering or inauspicious. In a very few cases such a perception is correct and there is a story behind the name. In other cases, the perception is incorrect due to differences between Western and Eastern values, period and modern values, a loss of something in translation, and/or a lack of knowledge about the reason for which a name was chosen.

Since name meaning was important, Chinese would change their personal names as their age, circumstances, status, and aspirations warranted. In period it seems unusual for a well-born, Chinese person to use a baby or childhood name throughout his or her life. In some cases, a name change was readily apparent because the new name sounded very different or was a different length. In some cases a name change was subtle, using homonyms or near-homonyms. In a few cases, the name change is very subtle because the change takes advantage of alternative meanings for the same written Chinese character(s). The latter case is arguable as a name change, but it was important with respect to the bearer’s circumstances or status, and appears to be well understood in Chinese society.

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傒 Personal Names - Multiple Names without Middle Names

Period Chinese naming practices differ from Western practices because Chinese teenagers and adults could have more than one personal name at a time, without considering diminutives, nicknames, pet names, or sobriquets. In much of Chinese history, customs required that members of certain social classes have more than one type of personal name concurrently.

However, Chinese personal names were not chained together. Until they began to adopt Western customs in modern times, Chinese people apparently did not have anything like a first and middle name. Instead, they had one type of personal name that was appropriate to use on some occasions, and another type of personal name that was appropriate to use on other occasions. And, quite often, it was appropriate to not use a personal name. Examples of this practice are described later (see Full Name Example).

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傒 Personal Names - 名 Ming

Each person had a 名 ming² [ming²], or official name. Apparently a person had only one ming at a time, but he or she probably had several ming throughout his or her lifetime. A person might even have a posthumous ming.

Ming are composed of one or two syllables. Disyllabic ming could constitute a single word or a two word phrase. In the case of phrases, one word might modify the other (for example, names meaning Flying Swallow or Gold Lotus), one word might reinforce or duplicate the other (for example, Hsiao³ Hsiao³ [Xiao³ Xiao³] where the character translates as small, and Shu⁴ Cheng¹ [Shu⁴ Zheng¹] where both characters translate as virtuous, pure), or the two words might express two separate characteristics (for example, a name meaning Graceful and Beautiful). In a few cases, a person had a two-word ming that, in the West, seems like a nickname or sobriquet (for example, the ming Hsiao³ Wan² [Xiao³ Wan²], meaning Young Wan, apparently given because the bearer’s older sister’s ming was Wan² Wan² [Wan² Wan²]).

As previously described, a ming is an official name. It typically would be used on official documents and in official proclamations. However, in many periods of Chinese history, it was impolite to use a noble or important person’s ming when speaking to him or her.[2,3] At other times, the acceptability of using a person’s ming depended on the relative status of the speaker and the person to whom he or she was speaking. For example, in such eras it was usually acceptable for a father to use his son's ming, a husband to use his wife's ming, or an employer to use an employee's ming; but the reverse would not be acceptable. However, a traditional difference in status might not be sufficient. For example, although his role as husband gave him more status than his wife, the emperor's son-in-law probably would not use his wife's ming when speaking to her where others could hear.

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傒 Personal Names - 字 Tzŭ

So what would one use if it were impolite to use a person's ming? An educated person or a person of consequence also had a 字 tzŭ⁴ [zi⁴], or style name. A tzŭ is not a nickname. It is the name by which a person is styled. Think of a tzŭ as a social name, typically used when it was concurrently appropriate to use a personal name and inappropriate to use a ming. A person’s first tzŭ was typically bestowed by a respected uncle, masculine family friend, or family patron.

To Western eyes at least, tzŭ look very much like ming. A tzŭ is one or two syllables long, and has similar meanings. Judging from masculine names, for which more examples are readily available, a person’s tzŭ can be based on their ming or can be very different. As one hypothetical example, a woman could have one name that generically refers to an orchid and another name that refers to a particular type of orchid. As another hypothetical example, a woman could have one name that refers to virtue and another name that refers to a flower.

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傒 Personal Names - 號 Hao

An educated Chinese adult might also have one or more 號 hao⁴ [hao⁴]. A hao is a literary name, a fancy name, or a short title used as a name. It is typically short, but often includes more than two syllables. Based on masculine examples, many hao appear to be epithets or descriptive phrases. A few hao appear to be nicknames or sobriquets, but they apparently were not diminutives of ming or tzŭ, and they apparently had more importance than a nickname or sobriquet.

Hao were typically conferred by friends, colleagues, or relatives. A few hao were truly titles conferred by a civilian or military authority. However, at least some hao were assumed rather than conferred. (For example, one woman consistently signed her paintings with a self-chosen hao, as if it were a pseudonym. She was therefore publicly known by that assumed hao.)

Apparently hao were not frequently used as actual names, but such use occurs at times. In some cases a person was better known to the general public by his or her hao, than by his or her tzŭ or ming. Many such cases identified to date are analogous to the modern use of pseudonyms, for example by poets, writers, painters, rebels, and prostitutes or courtesans.

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傒 Personal Names - Other Types

Chinese people also had other personal names that are distinct from ming, tzŭ, and hao. Some Chinese people are known through history primarily by these other kinds of names. A Chinese person could have a religious name, nicknames, sobriquets, pet names and, in some cases, a posthumous name and/or title. Some people used true locative bynames.

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Titles

Some Chinese people also had titles that were distinct from hao. Many were titles of rank, having meanings such as emperor, prince, duke, empress, and princess. Some were office/occupational titles, such as general, judge, and governor. Other titles seem more elaborate or fanciful, but also were related to rank or occupation, such as precious consort (an emperor's 'highest grade' concubines), or dragon court judge.

In addition, personal titles were bestowed as awards for meritorious service and/or distinguished accomplishments. These titles were awarded posthumously as well as during a person's lifetime. Such titles are generally very short (one or two syllables), but there are exceptions that seem to indicate longer titles were a special mark of esteem. These titles were apparently meant to be unique to the bearer. (For example, there had been several famous women scholars in Chinese history before the 9^th century, but it is Sung⁴ Jo⁴ Chao¹ [d. 825] who bears the title, Nü³ Hsueh² Shih⁴, meaning Woman Scholar.) Even when several individuals were awarded titles at nearly the same time for nearly the same reasons, the titles differed.

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帝 Emperors

Emperors had ming, tzŭ, and hao that are much like the names of other Chinese people of their time. However, an emperor is special and his names are likewise special. His names were unique, during his reign, because no subject was allowed to have the same name. This taboo typically encompassed the emperor's ming and tzŭ, but it's extent to his other names or to similar names depended on the emperor himself and several other factors. For example, sometimes the taboo applied to homophonic names and/or the individual syllables of the emperor's name, especially if the bearer was a member of the imperial court and the emperor, his ministers, or the name-bearer himself wanted to observe every formality. As mentioned above, some people, who were not members of the nuclear and extended imperial family changed their surname, at least until another dynasty was established. However, if an emperor awarded his surname to a subject, members of the awardee's immediate family and their descendents would usually adopt the imperial surname. In its history section, the "Chinaknowledge" website lists most emperors chronologically by their dynasty and reign dates. This website is at http://www.chinaknowledge.de/.

Emperors, of course, had additional titles and "names." Most had a posthumous temple name and a posthumous dynastic title, by which many of them are known through history. Within a specific dynasty, such titles seem unique to the individual upon whom it was bestowed, unless the title referred to the individual's untimely death or overthrow. However, temple names and dynastic titles followed a pattern and, therefore, are not unique when considering more than one dynasty. It is therefore necessary to precede the temple name or dynastic title with the dynasty name (For example, T'ang Wen-ti [Tang Wendi] meaning The Cultured/Scholarly Emperor of the T'ang).

During their reigns, most emperors also had at least one reign motto. The motto might be declared for an individual's entire reign (as in the case of Ming emperors) or for just a few years or months of the reign. A reign motto was often used like a name (hence, the term reign name) in documents and conversation while it was in effect. Further, if an emperor had only one reign motto, or if he had one or more mottos that seemed especially fitting, the emperor could be known through history by that motto, almost as if it were his preferred name or temple name. However, a motto was not necessarily unique, even within a single dynasty.

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Full Name Examples

To address or refer to a Chinese person by his or her name, one needs to know the appropriate order for the elements, and an appropriate combination of those elements.

As previously mentioned, surnames come first in Chinese names. A surname may be used alone, or it may be used with a given name or a title.

If a given name is used, the given name follows immediately after the surname. No matter how many given names a person has, only one given name is used at a time. The type of given name used depends on the circumstances, as previously mentioned. However, more than one given name may be used for a person during the course of a conversation or document. This use is similar to calling a person by her full given name to get her attention and then using her nickname when she answers.

If a title is used, it also follows the surname. Titles and given names are not typically used together, if biographical sketches and English translations of period literature accurately reflect Chinese custom. However, if both are used, the title follows the given name. If a person has multiple titles, it appears that only one title is used at a time, unless the person were the emperor. For example, if a prince was also a general, one might refer to him as prince in one sentence and as general in another sentence. However, one would not string one title after the other, as in general, prince.

To illustrate the possibilities, consider a famous, 8^th century, imperial concubine. She inherited the family name Yang² from her father. One of her personal names was Yu⁴ Huau² (meaning white jade ring), and, for the sake of this example, let's assume she also had a nickname, Hua² (meaning flower). One of her titles was Kuei⁴ Fei¹ (meaning precious imperial consort) and she could also be addressed as Fu¹ Jen² (meaning lady).[4] This lady could be called:

• Yang (could be used almost any time)
• Yang Yu Huau (use depends on if Yu Huau is a ming or tzŭ)
• Yang Hua (could by used in many casual settings)
• Yang Kuei Fei (could by used almost any time)
• Yang Fu Jen (probably not used in official or very formal circumstances because Lady denoted a lower rank than Kuei Fei)

• Yang Yu Huau Kuei Fei
• Yang Yu Huau Fu Jen

• Yu Huau
• Hua
• Yu Huau Hua
• Yang Yu Huau Hua
• Yang Kuei Fei Fu Jen
• Yang Yu Huau Hua Kuei Fei Fu Jen

• Mi (could be used almost any time)
• Mi Fei (used in official documents, in proclamations, and, possibly, by people of much higher social status when speaking to him)
• Mi Yüan Chang (could be used any time a ming was not appropriate and, possibly, in official documents some place after the ming had been used)
• Mi Hsiang Yang (could be used whenever a tzŭ could be used, but its use is less personal)

• Fei
• Yüan Chang
• Fei Yüan Chang
• Mi Fei Yüan Chang

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Endnotes

1.Since at least 2200 BCE, laws prohibited marriage between members of the same family, which included much more than the nuclear family, or even the first cousins of a nuclear family. Such laws typically are worded to prohibit marriage between people who have the same surname, be it clan name in very ancient times or actual family name in somewhat less ancient times.     [Return to text.]

2. This custom can pose a dilemma for a person wishing to register one Chinese name. Does she submit a name based on what should appear on official documents, or on what she wishes to be called when people speak to her?     [Return to text.]

3. Of course, there were eras when noble Chinese people did not have multiple given names. However, most, if not all, such eras are very ancient or fairly modern. In addition, most people from the lower social classes apparently did not have a tzŭ, which necessarily meant such a person's ming served as an official and social name.      [Return to text.]

4. The SCA currently uses Chu Fu, rather than Fu¹ Jen² [Fu¹ Ren²], as the Chinese form of address for Lady.     [Return to text.]

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	This page last updated September 26, 2004. Prepared by Yin Mei Li, who is also Octofoil Herald, and signed with her chop