GGood Chinese Name

Chinese surname · rank 126

牛

牛 is read as niú.

Pinyin

niú

Script forms

Simplified and traditional 牛

Basic meaning

ox; cattle

Five element

Earth

Origin

Time: Zhou-period animal-name, official and ancestor-name traditions; Zhou-period tradition, 1046-256 BCE

Place: Central-plains lineage traditions

Origin note

Niu surname traditions include animal-name and ancestor-name layers. The page presents the ox meaning clearly while avoiding a single unsupported origin claim.

Historical figures

牛僧孺 (Niu Sengru)

779-847 CE · Tang statesman

A Tang official associated with factional politics.

牛金 (Niu Jin)

died 312 CE · Cao Wei and Western Jin general

A military figure in the late Three Kingdoms and Jin transition.

Sources checked