Understand the Name of "Confucius"

What does “Confucius” mean?

This is a good question, with a long possible explanation. I will keep it short. 🙂

Why is the name "Confucius" unlike other Chinese names? — Why is the name “Confucius” unlike other Chinese names?

We need to understand a bit of Chinese history.

The real name of Confucius was 孔丘 (kǒng qiū).

孔 was his surname. However, 孔 is itself derived from the surname “Zi” (子姓). Yeah, the surname “Kong” (孔姓) actually comes from the surname of “Zi” (子姓). Well, “Zi” surname (子姓) starts from the Xie 契 (xiè), the ancestor of the Shang Dynasty in China, who helped Yu the Great (大禹, founder of Xia Dynasty) to control the flood.

So it is not wrong to say that Confucius belongs to the “Zi surname” (子姓).

Back to the question, why the given name of Confucius was 丘?

Well, in “Historical Records • The Family of Confucius” 《史记•孔子世家》, there is a clear record of why Confucius was given the name 丘 : When Confucius was born, the top of his head was sunken from all sides to the middle, so he was named Qiu. Understanding 丘 is important here.

丘 (qiū): mound; hillock; grave

How Kong Qiu (孔丘) became Kong Zi (孔子)?

In ancient Chinese tradition, adding a “Zi” to a person’s surname meant honoring the person. Hence, based on this concept, we can understand names of many great Chinese philosophers –

Laozi : 老子 (lǎo zǐ)
Kong Zi (Confucius): 孔子 (kǒng zǐ)
Meng Zi (Mencius) : 孟子 (mèng zǐ)
Zhuangzi: 庄子 (zhuāng zǐ)
Han Feizi : 韩非子

Basically, Zhuangzi (庄子, zhuāng zǐ) is a respectful name for Zhuang Zhou (庄周).

Similarly, Kong Zi (孔子) is an honorary title of Confucius, his real name is: Kong Qiu (孔丘).

If you are interested in Chinese language and culture, let me tell you that Confucius is known by quite a few names in Chinese:

孔子 (kǒng zǐ): Confucius
孔丘 (kǒng qiū): Confucius
仲尼 (Zhònɡ ní): Confucius
尼父 (ní fù): Confucius
孔夫子 (kǒng fū zǐ): Confucius
大成至圣先师 (dà chénɡ zhì shènɡ xiān shī): The Supreme Sage and Ancestral Teacher of Great Accomplishment (title dedicated to Confucius)

Well, Chinese culture is vast.

中华文化博大精深- Chinese culture is vast and profound.

The name “Confucius” is unlike other Chinese names because “Confucius” is an English word. And then, even in the Chinese name “Kong Zi”, the second characters Zi is to show respect. In this case, Zi is neither his given name nor his surname.