Zu Family History

Chinese:: Mandarin form of the surname 祖 meaning ‘ancestors’ in Chinese: (i) from the first element of the personal names Zu Jia (祖甲), Zu Yi (祖乙), Zu Xin (祖辛), Zu Ding (祖丁), and Zu Geng (祖庚), personal names of several kings during the Shang dynasty (1600–1046 BC). (ii) from the first element of the personal names of Zu Ji (祖己) and Zu Yin (祖尹), who were descendants of an official called Zhong Hui who lived some time during the Shang dynasty (1600–1046 BC).

Mandarin form of the surname 俎 meaning ‘sacrificial utensil’ in ancient Chinese: (i) adopted as a surname by the Bao Zu (鮑俎) family from the Xianbei ethnic group in northern China during the Northern Wei dynasty (386–534 AD). (ii) said to be adopted by the fourth son of the uncle of the famous general Yue Fei (1103–1142 AD) who changed the original surname Zhu (祝) to Zu (俎) in order to escape from political persecutions.