Dou Family History

Chinese: Mandarin form of the surname 竇 meaning ‘hole’ in ancient Chinese: (i) adopted as a surname by Yue Zhu and Yue Long two sons of Shao Kang the sixth king of the Xia dynasty (2070–1600 BC). Yue Zhu and Yue Long are said to have adopted Dou (竇) (meaning ‘hole’) as a surname because their pregnant grandmother had escaped from a rebellion through a hole in the wall before giving birth to their father Shao Kang who later recaptured the throne. (ii) traced back to the Dou (竇) family from the Di ethnic group and some other families from the Xianbei ethnic group in ancient China. Chinese: Mandarin form of the surname 豆 denoting an ancient stemmed cup of bowl: (i) traced back to some inhabitants in the state of Chu during the Spring and Autumn period (770–476 BC). (ii) adopted as the surname by the Chi Xiao Dou (赤小豆) and Dou Lu (豆盧) family from the Xianbei ethnic group in northern China during the Northern Wei dynasty (386–534 AD). Chinese: Mandarin form of the surname 鈄 referring to a type of ancient vessel for drinking wine: said to be borne by the descendants of the Duke Kang of Qi (died 379 BC) who was ousted from his throne in the state of Qi and sent into exile. It was said that he was forced to use the vessel Dou (鈄) to cook food during his exile and some of his descendants inherited Dou as the surname to memorize this period. Chinese: variant Romanization of the surname 杜 possibly based on its Cantonese pronunciation see Du French (southern): unexplained.

Source: Dictionary of American Family Names 2nd edition, 2022