Etymology of Zuoyun

Name Structure

A typical Chinese name consists of two parts: a family name or surname followed a first name / given name. This is the opposite order of the typical English name (e.g., John Smith), where the given name proceeds the family name. In certain traditions, the given name can also be divided into two parts: a generation name , followed by a unique given name. This is the case of Zuoyun:

  • Family name : Chinese family names are patrilineal, passed from father to children. Historically there are close to 12,000 surnames recorded, of which only about 3,100 are in current use. Wang (王) is the 58th-most-common surname in mainland China.
  • Generation name : in large families, a generation name allows each member of a generation (i.e. siblings and cousins of the same generation) to share a common character as to easily identify their seniority within the family hierarchy. For example, my name, Jiuguang (久光), as compared to the name of my first cousin, Jiuhui (久辉), shares the generation name Jiu (久), as do all the children of the Wang family of the 21st generation (see full list below). Our given names are also similar in nature - Guang (光) means "light" and Hui (辉) means "brilliance", a typical practice when naming siblings (using synonymous or complementary words). The generation name for the 22nd generation, Zuo (作), means "do", “be", or "become", depending on the context.
  • Unique given name: a unique character that is freely chosen by the parents, without constraints. In this case, Yun (昀) means "sunlight" - a clever combination of his mother's last name and his father's given name. In algebra form: 孙 (Sun) + 光 (Guang/"Light") = sunlight = 昀 (Yun).

Wang Family Generation Names

The recorded genealogy tree for the Wang family dates back to the 15th century. The first recorded ancestor, Siming Wang (王思明), was born in 1404 AD, or in the traditional Chinese calendar, the Second Year of Yongle Emperor , of the Ming Dynasty . An interactive version of the Wang family genealogy tree can be found here (password required), with 269 recorded male descendants in the past 600 years (female descendants are not recorded).

The generation names for the Wang family have been defined for 31 generations:

  • Generation 1: Si 思 - "thought"
  • Generation 2: Zhong 忠 - "loyalty"
  • Generation 3: Zhi 智 - "wisdom"
  • Generation 4: Luan 鸾 - "phoenix"
  • Generation 5: Hong 洪 - "vast"
  • Generation 6: Yue 月 - "moon"
  • Generation 7: Ai 爱 - "love"
  • Generation 8: Dai 代 - "era" or "generation"
  • Generation 9: Gao 高 - "height"
  • Generation 10: Shi 士 - "scholar"
  • Generation 11: Fu 福 - "bliss"
  • Generation 12: Ke 克 - "overcome" or "capture"
  • Generation 13: Yong 永 - "forever"
  • Generation 14: Xi 希 - "hope"
  • Generation 15: Wen 文 - "language"
  • Generation 16: Jin 金 - "gold"
  • Generation 17: Gui 桂 - "katsura tree"
  • Generation 18: Shu 树 - "tree" (literally) or "raise"/"affirm" (metaphorically)
  • Generation 19: Yun 运 - "fortune"
  • Generation 20: Yu 玉 - "jade" or "pure"
  • Generation 21: Jiu 久 - "forever"
  • Generation 22: Zuo 作 - "do", "be", or "become"
  • Generation 23: Shan 善 - "charity"
  • Generation 24: Shen 身 - "body" (literally) or "life" (metaphorically)
  • Generation 25: Fang 方 - "square" (literally) or "direction" (metaphorically)
  • Generation 26: Tai 泰 - "grand"
  • Generation 27: Wei 为 - "for" or "be"
  • Generation 28: Yi 义 - "justice"
  • Generation 29: Bu 步 - "footsteps"
  • Generation 30: An 安 - "safe"
  • Generation 31: Kang 康 - "peaceful"