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
115,836
Historical Documents & Family Trees with Lin
The information for this chart came from the U.S. Immigration Collection at Ancestry.co.uk.
You can find out where the majority of the Lin families were living before
they immigrated to the U.S and learn where to focus your search for foreign records.
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