In the modern concept, the surname refers to our surname, and the first name generally refers to the full name of our name. For example, Zhang San's surname is Zhang, and his first name is Zhang San. However, in ancient times, surname and surname were two different things, and names and words were also two different things, which should not be confused.
According to the Tongjian Waiji, "Those whose surnames are unified by their ancestral examinations are self-explanatory; those whose clans are divided by their descendants." "Therefore, it can be seen that the first to appear is the surname.
Surnames have been produced since the time of clan society, and people with the same surname represent a common ancestor. Most of the early surnames were taken from place names, such as the Yellow Emperor's surname Ji (what?). The Yellow Emperor is not surnamed Huang? Because he lived near Jishui; Emperor Shun's surname was Yao, because he was born in Yao Xu (姚墟, in present-day Puyang County, Puyang, Henan).
There were very few early surnames, among which "姬, Jiang, 姒, 嬴, 妘, 妫, 姚, 姞" were known as the eight surnames of the ancients. Careful people may find that these surnames all bear the word "female". That's because the early days of clan society were matrilineal societies, and after the child was born, he didn't know who his biological father was (the child's mother didn't know either), so it became a matter of course that the surname had the word "female".
With the progress of social productivity, the size of the population gradually exceeded the maximum carrying capacity of primitive tribes, so some people had to leave the original tribe to go to other places to establish their own portals. But in this case, it is obviously inconvenient for everyone to share a surname, and it is impossible to distinguish between the tribal branches between each other, so the clan is born. Simply put, the clan is a branch of the surname, which can also be seen as a badge between different families of the same ancestor.
In the early days, only nobles had surnames and names, and ordinary commoners only had surnames and first names. The reason for this is that the class division between the nobles and the commoners is highlighted; the second is that the range of activities of the commoners in a lifetime is also tens of miles, and there is very little opportunity to contact people from other tribes, so there is no need to divide them so finely.
In the Spring and Autumn Period, the aristocratic class often only called the family name and not the surname, because the princes, scholars and beggars who wanted to eat were likely to have the same surname, which made the nobles who felt good about themselves feel embarrassed, so just calling the family could show their status and dignity. However, the civilians think that I don't steal or rob, so why can't I have a clan? Therefore, many people also make up their own minds to add a surname between the surname and the first name, and learn the appearance of the nobility, only the clan is commensurate.
Over time, the surname was no longer used, and everyone's title was a surname plus a name, so the surname was gradually confused. The names we call today are, in fact, most of them are a combination of clan and name. For example, Confucius is not surnamed Kong, but a sub-surname, Kong, Mingqiu, the character Zhongni; Qu Yuan is the surname of Qi, Qu, Mingping, and Ziyuan.
In addition, the names of ancient women are rarely recorded in historical books, and even very famous women basically only use surnames, such as Wang and Qin. Modern people think that Wang and Qin here are surnames, but in fact, as the literal meaning is, Wang and Qin are both surnames.
After talking about the difference between surnames, let's talk about the first name. What the ancients called a name is a name in the pure sense, and a word represents another meaning.
Three months after the birth of an ancient child, the family would name him. Then it is not until the man is twenty years old that the crown ceremony is held and the woman is fifteen years old, and the ceremony represents adulthood, at which time the "word" can be taken.
The ancients believed that it was very impolite to name names, so "word" is a title for the peers or juniors, and only the elders and themselves can be named. However, ordinary people generally have no words, and it is enough to have a name to let people know who is Zhang San and who is Li Si.
In addition to the surname and name, many ancient celebrities also had a number, which is a title other than the name of the ancients, that is, the ya number. Most of the "trumpets" are self-made and generally have a special meaning. For example, Ouyang Xiu called himself "Liuyi Layman", "Liuyi" refers to 10,000 volumes of books, 1,000 volumes of Golden Stone Texts, a piano, a game of chess, a pot of wine, plus his own old man; Tang Yin (Tang Bohu) "Liu Ru LayMan", "Liu Ru" that is, life is like an illusion, like a dream, like a bubble, like a shadow, like dew, like electricity, which just expresses his negative emotions as a frustrated literati; the Qianlong Emperor thought that he had "ten perfect martial arts" in his life, so he gave himself the title of "Ten Perfect Old Man".
It is worth mentioning that some celebrities in history have become so accustomed to being called by people that people forget their original names. For example, many people know that bada Shanren is a famous painter, but few people know that his real name is Zhu Yun, the tenth grandson of Zhu Yuanzhang, the ancestor of the Ming Dynasty. Zheng Banqiao is also a well-known figure, but his name is actually Called Zheng Xie, and Itabashi is just his number.