Chinese surnames origin

Chinese surnames or last names are split into four categories: xing, shi, ming, and zi.  These categories are split based by who the name is named after, and who calls the person by that name. These names have various origins. Most of the time those who had names other than their birth name or surname were people who were cultured or educated. Average citizens did not all have access to higher levels of education, and thus didn’t know how to make meaningful names. Because of this, most average citizens named their kids based on their age order. The oldest for males would be called Bo, while females would be called meng. The next child for either gener would be called zhang, then shu, and the youngest would always be called ji. Some people were named or given surnames baced on places, locations, things, and some clans would have surnames after what they warship. Some people who made great efforts like contributing a lot to winning a war could be awarded the emperor’s last name as a sot of status upgrade. Similar to this, generals that were awarded pieces of land sometimes changed their surnames to the place’s name so they would match. Sometimes people also changed their names to their occupation or status.