GGood Chinese Name

Chinese surname · rank 225

窦

窦 is read as dòu.

Pinyin

dòu

Script forms

Simplified 窦 · Traditional 竇

Basic meaning

hole, burrow; corrupt

Five element

Earth

Origin

Time: Xia traditional layer, ancient place or residence-name layer, Han commandery prominence, and Northern Wei/Xianbei adoption layers; Xia-dynasty tradition, c. 2070-1600 BCE

Place: Qinghe Guanjin in today's Hebei Wuyi, Fufeng Pingling near today's Xianyang, Henan/Luoyang, Wudu in today's Gansu, and northern Xianbei migration contexts

Origin note

窦 is a layered surname. One cautious explanation connects it with the word's older sense of a hole, side door, or cellar, so the surname may have formed from a residence or place description. Traditional surname accounts also connect 窦 with the Xia line: Hou Min is said to have escaped through a wall opening during the Youqiong crisis and later gave birth to Shaokang, with later descendants taking 窦 to remember that event. Other sources keep additional layers separate, including ancient places named Dou, Di groups in the northwest, and Xianbei clans such as Hedouling or related northern groups that became Dou during the Northern Wei and later periods.

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