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Family name origins & meanings
- Chinese :
from an area in Shanxi province named Guo (written with a different character, pronounced the same). A younger brother of the famed virtuous duke Wen Wang (12th century bc) was enfeoffed this area and given the name Guo Shu. The Chinese character for the area was pronounced in the same way as a different character, the source of the present-day surname Guo, and people began to refer to Guo Shu with this homophonic character. - Chinese :
from a character that also means ‘kingdom’ or ‘state’. Descendants of the founder of the state of Qi during the Warring States period (403–221bc) adopted this character as their surname. - Chinese :
from the name of a state of Guo that existed during the Xia dynasty (2205–1766 bc). Following defeat of this state, residents of the area adopted its name as their surname.