Genealogy News · Source Interpretation · Published on 2026-10-05

What Was Qin Shi Huang’s Surname, Exactly? An Examination of the Ying Surname, the Zhao Clan, and the Qin Royal House

Qin Shi Huang’s personal name was Zheng, and he is commonly known as Ying Zheng. Under the pre-Qin system, in which surnames and clan names were used differently, he belonged to the Ying surname and the Zhao clan, while Qin was the name of the state he inherited. Understanding this form of address requires distinguishing among pre-Qin ritual institutions, royal genealogies, and later concepts of surnames.

When discussing what Qin Shi Huang’s surname was, it is important first to note that ancient and modern systems of surnames and clan names were not entirely the same. Modern people generally use a single surname to identify a family, whereas in pre-Qin aristocratic society, “surnames” and “clan names” served different functions: surnames were used more often to distinguish blood relations and marriage relationships, while clan names were commonly associated with enfeoffed states, fiefs, official positions, or branches of a social group. Therefore, applying modern naming conventions directly to Qin Shi Huang can easily conflate forms of address belonging to different levels.

Qin Shi Huang’s personal name was Zheng, and he was commonly called Ying Zheng. Traditional texts and later scholarship generally place him within the Ying-surname, Zhao-clan line. Here, “Ying” was the surname inherited by his ancestors, while “Zhao” was related to the designation of a branch of the Qin royal house in Zhao and to its identity and background. Ying Zheng, the son of King Zhuangxiang of Qin, was born in Handan, the capital of Zhao. His early life was connected with Zhao, after which he returned to Qin and succeeded to the throne of Qin. Because his place of birth, royal status, and title as ruler of Qin all coexisted, historical records contain different forms of address, including Ying Zheng and Zhao Zheng.

“Was Qin Shi Huang’s surname Qin?” is another common question. Strictly speaking, Qin was first and foremost the name of a state; the King of Qin was a political identity and a ruler’s title, not the equivalent of a personal surname in the modern sense. After unifying the Six States, Ying Zheng established the imperial title system and called himself the First Emperor. Later generations consequently referred to him as Qin Shi Huang. This designation emphasizes his historical status rather than identifying his personal surname.

The “Zhao clan” should not be simplistically equated with the modern Zhao-surname family. During the pre-Qin period, surnames and clan names existed in parallel, and members of the royal house might use different forms of address in different contexts. The royal houses of Qin and Zhao were both associated with the Ying-surname tradition, while the relevant genealogies also involved long-term political enfeoffment and the evolution of branches. Therefore, one cannot infer a direct agnatic or clan relationship with Qin Shi Huang solely from sharing the same modern surname, whether Zhao or Ying.

When conducting research into surnames and family history, one may begin by consulting a surname database to learn about accounts of a surname’s origins and development, then cross-check specific individuals, migration locations, generation names, and genealogical records against online genealogies, family memoirs, and local gazetteers. In the case of surnames with multiple possible origins, such as Huang (皇), sources may contain different explanations involving place names, official positions, and local branches, showing that a single surname does not necessarily have only one origin. Research into one’s roots should still be based on genealogies, inscriptions, local gazetteers, and historical documents that corroborate one another, avoiding the treatment of cultural legends or similar surnames as definitive evidence of a genealogy.

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