What is a Chinese generation name?

A character shared by everyone of the same generation in a lineage, taken in order from the lineage's generation poem (zibei).

How do I find my generation name?

Check your branch's genealogy, ask older relatives, read gravestones and ancestral-hall tablets, and compare with genealogies from the same ancestral place.

Do all families with the same surname share a generation poem?

No. Each lineage or branch sets its own poem, so families with the same surname usually have different ones.

Chinese generation names (zibei) explained

A generation poem — zibei (字辈), also called paiyu (派语) — is a sequence of characters chosen by a lineage. Each generation uses the next character in their given names, so cousins of the same generation share a character, and anyone in the clan can tell from a name which generation a person belongs to.

Where generation poems come from

They were usually composed by a founding ancestor or by elders when a genealogy was compiled, often as lines of four, five or seven characters with auspicious meanings. When the characters run out, later generations add a continuation. A poem is normally shared only within one lineage branch.

How the character appears in a name

Most often it is the middle character of a three-character name, so brothers and male cousins of one generation share it; some families put it last, or share a radical instead. Many modern families no longer follow the poem in everyday names, but genealogies still record each person's "genealogy name".

How to find your family's generation poem

In rough order of reliability:

Your branch's genealogy (jiapu / zupu) — look for a section titled 字辈, 派语 or 行辈, or for the shared character in each generation of the lineage chart.
Older relatives, who usually remember several generations.
Gravestones and ancestral halls — names on tombstones and tablets often span several generations.
Relatives from the same ancestral village or county.
Local gazetteers, archives and published genealogies from the same ancestral place and surname. Remember that different branches of one surname use different poems.

If the poem is lost

Write out the names you know — yourself, father, grandfather, great-grandfather — and those of brothers and cousins, and look for the character each generation shares. Even three or four generations are often enough to match a genealogy from the same ancestral place. If it is truly lost, the family can agree on a new poem and record it, with the date and circumstances, in a new genealogy.

Build your family genealogy online

A family or clan association maintains its own genealogy online. Invite relatives, let each claim "me", keep your own branch up to date, and preview or download the book at any time.

Find my roots Start a genealogy

Frequently asked questions

What is a Chinese generation name?: A character shared by everyone of the same generation in a lineage, taken in order from the lineage's generation poem (zibei).
How do I find my generation name?: Check your branch's genealogy, ask older relatives, read gravestones and ancestral-hall tablets, and compare with genealogies from the same ancestral place.
Do all families with the same surname share a generation poem?: No. Each lineage or branch sets its own poem, so families with the same surname usually have different ones.