GGood Chinese Name

Chinese surname · rank 76

尹

尹 is read as yǐn.

Pinyin

yǐn

Script forms

Simplified and traditional 尹

Basic meaning

govern; official

Five element

Earth

Origin

Time: Shang-Zhou official-title traditions; Shang-Zhou tradition, c. 1600-256 BCE

Place: Royal courts and central-plains official lineages

Origin note

Yin is a classic official-title surname. In early Chinese political language, yin could refer to a governing or administrative office. Descendants of officials or lineages connected with the title used Yin as a surname.

Historical figures

尹喜 (Yin Xi)

legendary antiquity · legendary gatekeeper and Daoist figure

Associated in legend with Laozi's westward journey.

尹洙 (Yin Zhu)

1001-1047 CE · Northern Song writer

A Song prose writer and official.

Sources checked