GGood Chinese Name

Chinese surname · rank 36

潘

潘 is read as pān.

Pinyin

pān

Script forms

Simplified and traditional 潘

Basic meaning

water in which rice has been rinsed; river name

Five element

Water

Origin

Time: Western Zhou to Spring and Autumn surname tradition; Western Zhou to Spring and Autumn tradition, 1046-476 BCE

Place: Pan place/fief tradition, usually placed in the central plains surname-source tradition

Origin note

A major Pan surname tradition traces the surname to a Ji-surname branch connected with Bi Gong Gao. The transmitted story says Ji Sun lived at or was associated with Pan, and descendants used the place name Pan as their surname. Because Pan also has water-related character meanings, the page keeps the literal meaning separate from the fief/place-name origin.

Historical figures

潘岳 (Pan Yue)

247-300 CE · Western Jin poet

Often known as Pan An in later cultural memory, he became a byword for male beauty and literary refinement.

潘天寿 (Pan Tianshou)

1897-1971 CE · painter and art educator

A major modern Chinese painter associated with bold brushwork and art education.

Sources checked