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.Chinese : variant of Lian 1.Scottish
and English: perhaps a variant of Lynn. pwh.Dutch: probably a variant of Lyn.
Dictionary of American Family Names, Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-508137-4
117,439
Historical Documents & Family Trees with Lin
The information for this chart came from the U.S. Immigration Collection at Ancestry.com.
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