Sun Family History

Chinese: Mandarin form of the surname 孫 meaning ‘grandson’ in Chinese: (i) from Hui Sun (惠孫) style name of the son of the Duke Wu of Wey (ruler of the state of Wey c. 853–758 BC). Hui Sun's grandson later inherited 孫 part of the style name of his grandfather as his surname. (ii) from Sun Shu (孫書) an official in the state of Qi (located mainly in present-day Shandong province). He was given the surname 孫 by the Duke Jing of Qi (ruler of the state of Qi died 490 BC) because of his contributions in the war between the state of Qi and the state of Lü (located in Shandong province). Sun Wu (孫武 also known as Sun Tzu) a prominent militarist during the Warring States period (475–221 BC) famous for his book The Art of War was a descendant of Sun Shu. (iii) from Sun Shu (孫叔) style name of Sun Shu Ao (c. 630–593 BC) a famous official in the state of Chu during the Spring and Autumn period (770–476 BC). His descendants inherited 孫 part of the style name as their surname. (iv) for some families the surname is traced back to Xun (荀). People with the surname 荀 changed it to 孫 during the reign of Liu Xun (劉恂) also known as Emperor Xuan of Han (91–49 BC) because it had the same pronunciation as the personal name of the emperor which was taboo in ancient China. After the death of Han Xuan Di some people kept the surname 孫 while others changed it back to their original surname 荀. Chinese: variant Romanization of the surname 荀 see Xun Chinese: Cantonese form of the surnames 申 (see Shen ) 辛 (see Xin ) and 山 (see Shan ). Chinese: variant Romanization of the surname 沈 see Shen Chinese: variant Romanization of the surname 岑 see Cen . Chinese: variant Romanization of the surname 宣 see Xuan 7: Korean: variant of Son

Source: Dictionary of American Family Names 2nd edition, 2022