GGood Chinese Name

Chinese surname · rank 387

空

空 is read as kōng.

Pinyin

kōng

Script forms

Simplified and traditional 空

Basic meaning

empty, hollow, bare, deserted

Five element

Earth

Origin

Time: Shang-Zhou tradition, c. 1600-256 BCE

Place: Kongsang near Chenliu / modern Kaifeng, Henan; Kongtong / Kongtong-state traditions tied to Shang-lineage or Kongtong mountain accounts; Song-state Kongxiang layer; Gongqiu and Dunqiu commandery prestige geography

Origin note

Kong/空 should be presented as a surname formed mainly by shortening older compound surnames, not as the everyday word empty. One tradition derives it from Kongsang, the place associated with Yi Yin in older accounts. A second derives it from Kongtong or Kongtong-state traditions, connected in surname references with descendants of Shang ancestor Xie. A third links it to Kongxiang, a name among descendants of the Song ruling house. Some modern summaries add Youkonghou as another compound-name source. These layers are separate from the dictionary meaning of 空 as empty, hollow, or sky/space.

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