Jin (Chinese surname)

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Jin is the pinyin name for several Chinese surnames. The most common one is Jin 金, which means “gold.” It ranks as the 64th most common Chinese surname (as of 2006) and is sometimes written as Chin. Other Jin surnames include Jin 晋/晉 and Jin 靳.

Jin is an ancient surname, more than 4,000 years old. It first appears in legends from the time of the Yellow Emperor, a legendary Chinese ruler who is considered the ancestor of the Han people. One story says the Yellow Emperor’s son Yi Zhi became leader. On the day he was installed, a golden phoenix landed on a house opposite his seat. The followers took this as a good sign and chose gold as the emblem of their tribe. Yi Zhi was titled Jin Tian Shi, meaning “golden skies,” and led the Jin Tian Tribe. Their settlement was in Qufu, in today’s Shandong province. Yi Zhi is said to have died around 2515 BCE. Some of his descendants later dropped the “golden skies” part of the name.

The Jin surname also appeared in Pengcheng (now Tongshan County) during the Han dynasty (206 BCE–220 CE).

Origins of the other Jin surnames: Jìn (靳) is said to come from Zhurong and later became a Chu clan. It was originally Jian-Jin (篯), then Jian-Qian (錢), and finally Jìn (靳). Jìn (晋) is said to come from Tang Shū Yú (唐叔虞), the brother of King Wu of Zhou. He founded the state of Jin, and his descendants used the surname Jìn (晋).