Song Dynasty Name Generator

Common surnames were Zhao, Qian, Sun, Li, Zhou, Wu, Zheng and Wang, the opening line of the Song-era Hundred Family Surnames, along with Liu, Chen, Yang and Huang. Given names favoured virtue characters: Zhong (loyal), Yan (upright), Wen (cultured), De (virtue), Zhi (will) and Xian (worthy), often combined in two-character names like Zhongyan, Dexiu or Wenzhi.

Every Song emperor had a personal name (Zhao Kuangyin), a temple name used after death (Taizu) and an era name for his reign. Histories call him Emperor Taizu of Song; contemporaries never spoke his personal name aloud. The generator lists both personal and temple-name forms.

Mostly not. Song Jiang led a real rebellion around 1120, but Lin Chong, Wu Song, Lu Zhishen and the other 108 outlaws are fictional characters from the novel Water Margin, which is set in the late Northern Song. They are included because they are the most famous Song-era names in Chinese popular culture.

Women kept their father's surname after marriage and were often recorded only as, say, Lady Wang or Madam Wei. Where given names survive, as with the poets Li Qingzhao and Zhu Shuzhen, they use graceful characters for jade, clarity, orchid or brightness. Commoners might be known by birth-order nicknames like Sanniang (third daughter).