Chinese surname · rank 350
都
都 is read as dū.
dū
Simplified and traditional 都
metropolis, capital; all, the whole; elegant, refined
Earth
Time: Spring and Autumn tradition, 770-476 BCE
Place: Zheng Zidu courtesy-name layer, Chu Gongdu fief layer, and Qi Gongduzi ancestor-name layer.
Origin note
Du is read d as a surname, and its origin is not simply the common word for capital or all. One main line comes from Zheng in the Spring and Autumn period: Gongsun E, also known by the style name Zidu, is named in surname sources as an ancestor whose descendants used from that style. A second line comes from Chu: prince Tian was connected with a fief called Du, forming the compound Gongdu, which later had single-character Du branches. Wikipedia also records a Tian Qi layer from Gongduzi descendants taking Du from an ancestor name. Later sources add a Mongol-descended line in Shandong, said to have received Du as a granted surname in the early Ming. This entry keeps these as separate courtesy-name, fief-name, ancestor-name, and granted-surname traditions rather than forcing one founder for all Du families.
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