GGood Chinese Name

Chinese surname · rank 365

荀

荀 is read as xún.

Pinyin

xún

Script forms

Simplified and traditional 荀

Basic meaning

ancient state; plant

Five element

Wood

Origin

Time: Western Zhou tradition, 1046-771 BCE

Place: Ancient Xun/Huan state traditions around southern Shanxi, often linked with Linyi or Xinjiang; Jin Xun fief traditions in southern Shanxi; later Yingchuan and Henei clan centers

Origin note

荀 is best treated as a layered surname rather than a plant-meaning surname. One traditional layer places Xun among the old Huangdi-descendant surnames. A better documented lineage layer connects it with the Ji-surname Xun/Huan state: later descendants used the state name 郇, and some traditions describe a written-form change that removed the city radical and added the grass radical, producing 荀. Another Spring and Autumn layer connects 荀 with Jin, where Yuan/黯, later remembered as Xun Xi, was associated with a Xun fief; later Jin ministerial families such as Xun Linfu, Zhonghang, and Zhi are tied to this Xun clan complex. The page presents these as overlapping transmitted traditions and keeps the plant or ancient-state dictionary meaning separate from the surname origin.

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.

Sources checked