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The lin Surname

lin Name Meaning and History

  1. Chinese : from a word meaning ‘forest’. Bi Gan was a half-brother to Zhou Xin, the cruel and corrupt last king (1154–1123 bc) of the Shang dynasty. Bi Gan criticized his half-brother’s excesses, and for this he had his belly ripped open and his heart cut out. His wife fled to Chang Forest, where she gave birth to a son. When Zhou Xin was toppled by the new Zhou dynasty, the new Zhou ruler granted the son some land together with the name Lin.
  2. Chinese : variant of Lian 1.
  3. Scottish and English: perhaps a variant of Lynn.
  4. Dutch: probably a variant of Lyn.

Dictionary of American Family Names, Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-508137-4
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lin Family Facts

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Distribution of lin Families in the US in 1920
Number of lin families
 33-63
 12-32
 1-11
 0
Compiled by Ancestry.com from the 1920 US Federal Census records

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Lin message board


Threads: 3 - Messages: 3
ThreadAuthorReplies
Death of Mr. Walter Lin in China davwayell 0
Ming Zhu Lin E Lin 0
Yang Ming Lin E Lin 0

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The lin name in History

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