Qiu Family History

Chinese:: Mandarin form of the surname 邱. This was adopted in place of the Chinese surname 丘 (see 2 below) after the Western Han dynasty (206 BC - 25 AD) particularly during the reign of the emperor Yong Zheng (1678–1735 AD) in the Qing dynasty (1616 – 1911 AD) who out of respect for Confucius (551–479 BC) ordered people with the surname 丘 to change to the surname 邱 because the original surname 丘 happened to be the personal name of Confucius. Mandarin form of the surname 丘 meaning ‘mound knoll’ in Chinese: (i) from the second element of the placename Ying Qiu (營丘) (located in Shandong province) the capital of the state of Qi when the state was established by Jiang Tai Gong or Jiang Ziya (c. 11th century BC). (ii) traced back to the Qiu (丘) family in the Wu Huan ethnic group which originated in Inner Mongolia. (iii) adopted as a surname by the Qiu Dun (丘敦) and the Qiu Lin (丘林) families from the Xianbei ethnic group in northern China during the Northern Wei dynasty (386–534 AD). (iv) from the second element of the placename Wan Qiu (宛丘) a city in the state of Chen during the Spring and Autumn period (770–476 BC). (v) said to be traced back to Zuo Qiu Ming (左丘明) a famous historian in the state of Lu during the Spring and Autumn period (770–476 BC). (vi) said to be traced back to Qiu Ruo (丘弱) an official in the state of Zhu during the Spring and Autumn period (770–476 BC). Mandarin form of the surname 仇 meaning ‘companion’ or ‘spouse’ in ancient Chinese: (i) from the first element of the personal name Qiu Mu (仇牧) personal name of an official in the state of Song during the Spring and Autumn period (770–476 BC). (ii) adopted in place of the Chinese surname Hou (侯) by Qiu Luo Qi (仇洛奇) during the Northern Wei dynasty (386–534 AD). Mandarin form of the surname 裘 meaning 'clothes made of fur’ in Chinese: (i) from the placename Qiu (裘) the name of a fief (thought to be located in Henan or Hebei province) granted to an official in the state of Wey during the Spring and Autumn period (770–476 BC). (ii) from Qiu (裘) the title of an official in charge of making furs during the Western Zhou dynasty (1046–771 BC). (iii) in some cases 裘 was adopted in place of the Chinese surname 仇 (see 3 above) in order to escape from persecution. Mandarin form of the surname 秋 meaning ‘autumn’ in Chinese: (i) from Si Qiu (司秋) the name of a god in charge of autumn who according to legend was a descendant of the legendary king Shao Hao (c. 26th century BC). (ii) from Qiu Hu (秋胡) a person originating in the state of Lu who simplified the Chinese character 湫 part of his grandfather's personal name to Qiu (秋) and adopted it as a surname. (iii) possibly from Qiu (秋) or Qiu Guan (秋官) also called Si Kou the name of an official post during the Western Zhou dynasty (1046–771 BC) in charge of criminal investigation and punishment.

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