Chinese surname · rank 286
国
国 is read as guó.
guó
Simplified 国 · Traditional 國
nation, country, nation-state
Earth
Time: Spring-and-Autumn Qi and Zheng layers, Baekje aristocratic-surname layer, Qing Manchu and Xibe changed-surname layers, and modern Shandong-North China distribution evidence; Qing changed-surname or clan layer, 1644-1912 CE
Place: Qi state and Shandong context; Zheng state and Ziguo courtesy-name context; Baekje and later Luoyang/central-plain assimilation layer; Qing Manchu and Xibe clan-name context; modern concentration in Shandong, Hebei, Jilin, Beijing, Liaoning, Inner Mongolia, Heilongjiang, Jiangsu, Shanxi, and Tianjin
Origin note
Guo is read guo as a surname. The core Han-source layers are Spring-and-Autumn traditions. One line connects Guo with the Qi state: sources describe a Qi high-minister Guo clan or official-title use, with later descendants using Guo as a surname. A second line connects Guo with Zheng: Zheng Duke Mu's son Gongzi Fa had the courtesy name Ziguo, and later descendants are said to have used the ancestor's courtesy name as a clan name. The page also keeps non-Han and changed-surname layers separate: 23mofang notes Baekje's old aristocratic surname layer and records Qing-period Manchu Guoluo and Xibe Guoluoluo or Guoluoluo-like clan names that were changed to Guo. Because these traditions belong to different periods and communities, the entry presents Guo as a layered surname, not as one single-founder story.
Historical figures
Historical figures to enrich
This surname page is ready for a fame-ranked figure list. Later passes can add generals, poets, rulers, artists, scholars and modern public figures with source links.