| Yin | |
| Pronunciation: | Yīn (Pinyin) In (Pe̍h-ōe-jī) Yan and Wan (Jyutping) |
| Language: | Chinese, Korean |
| Language origin: | Chinese |
| Origin: | Name of the Yin dynasty |
| Derivation: | Zi (子) |
| Meaning: | "Flourishing" |
| Variant: | Heung (Teochew) In (Hokkien, Sino-Japanese) Eun (Yoon) (殷, 은) (Sino-Korean) |
Yīn is a Chinese surname. It is derived from the name of the capital of the Shang dynasty. A 2013 study found that it was the 126th most common surname, being shared by 1,470,000 people or 0.110% of the population, with Jiangsu being the province with the most. It is the 74th name on the Hundred Family Surnames poem.[1]
The surname Yīn can date to the fall of the Shang (Yin) dynasty in 1046 BCE. After the dynasty's collapse, surviving ruling family members collectively changed their surname from 子 (pinyin: zǐ; Wade-Giles: tzu; the royal surname) to the name of their fallen capital and country, Yin (殷). The family remained members of the aristocratic class. They often provided administrative services to the Zhou dynasty who succeeded them.
Following the fall of the Shang dynasty, Viscount of Wei (Wei Zi 微子), older brother of Di Xin, the last king of the Shang dynasty, was given the territory around the old Shang capital, and established the State of Song (宋國). Rites for the Shang (Yin) kings continued to 286 BCE.[2]
The surname is still found in northern and northeastern China. There is a diaspora in the area south of the Yangtze River near the Wu region of China, and after the time of the Qing dynasty, immigration to Taiwan and Southeast Asia. Yin settlements are found south-west of Tonghui in Gansu Province, in Shandong Province and in the Pearl River Delta area. A 2013 study found that it was the 126th most common surname, being shared by 1,470,000 people or 0.110% of the population, with Jiangsu being the province with the most.[3]