<p>there're terms for the "first-born-son" only. traditionally, females are not treated equally in a family.</p>

<p>so, the answer below is <strong>not</strong> gender neutral.</p>

<p>"嫡長子", "嫡子" or "宗子" - "first-born-son" of wife (the official one, not concubines)</p>

<p><a href="http://dict.revised.moe.edu.tw/cgi-bin/cbdic/gsweb.cgi?o=dcbdic&amp;searchid=Z00000044984" rel="nofollow noreferrer">http://dict.revised.moe.edu.tw/cgi-bin/cbdic/gsweb.cgi?o=dcbdic&amp;searchid=Z00000044984</a></p>

<p><a href="http://dict.revised.moe.edu.tw/cgi-bin/cbdic/gsweb.cgi?o=dcbdic&amp;searchid=Z00000044987" rel="nofollow noreferrer">http://dict.revised.moe.edu.tw/cgi-bin/cbdic/gsweb.cgi?o=dcbdic&amp;searchid=Z00000044987</a></p>

<p><a href="http://dict.revised.moe.edu.tw/cgi-bin/cbdic/gsweb.cgi?o=dcbdic&amp;searchid=Z00000140215" rel="nofollow noreferrer">http://dict.revised.moe.edu.tw/cgi-bin/cbdic/gsweb.cgi?o=dcbdic&amp;searchid=Z00000140215</a></p>

<p>therefore, you might invent the term "嫡長女" as "first-born-daughter" :)</p>

<p>other male siblings in the family, including younger one of the same mother, or any male siblings of concubines, are called "庶子"</p>

<p><a href="http://dict.revised.moe.edu.tw/cgi-bin/cbdic/gsweb.cgi?o=dcbdic&amp;searchid=Z00000133626" rel="nofollow noreferrer">http://dict.revised.moe.edu.tw/cgi-bin/cbdic/gsweb.cgi?o=dcbdic&amp;searchid=Z00000133626</a></p>

<p>have fun :)</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-08-05T15:15:10.763Z
To clarify, 嫡子/庶子 has nothing to do with age. People might think that ancient Chinese men can have more than one wives but that is not true. Legally, a man can have only one 妻 (actual wife) and maybe multiple 妾(concubines). The man can have children with 妾, but generally, 妾 are considered as servents. The children of 妻 are called 嫡子, and children of 妾 are called 庶子. If a man have any children outside marriage they are also called 庶子. 嫡/庶 has nothing to do with age. 嫡长子 is the term for the firstborn son of 妻. legally, 嫡长子 is the one inherit the properties and the knighthood of the father.
River
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-08-05T15:16:54.160Z
I don't think it is a good idea to bring in the concept of 嫡/庶 when answering this question.
River
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-08-06T14:19:57.693Z
well, like it or not, it’s part of the culture. btw, it’s in the dictionary 
水巷孑蠻
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-09-19T08:39:32.737Z
2018-09-19T08:39:32.737Z
水巷孑蠻
<p>You could just put: 最大的孩子 or just 大的（孩子）. IE:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>他们家有三个孩子， 大的都有16岁了</p>
<p>他们家最大的孩子已经16岁了。</p>
<p>他们家最大的已经16岁了。</p>
<p>他们家大的已经有16岁了。</p>
<p>他们家大的孩子都有16岁了。</p>
</blockquote>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-09-20T00:41:47.873Z
2018-09-20T00:41:47.873Z
2020-06-17T09:50:11.587Z
dan
<p>Speaking from personal experience (as a 長孫 on my paternal side):</p>

<p>老大 would be the most common gender-neutral term used <em>within the family</em>. Very common.</p>

<p>長子 can refer to the one oldest child of brothers and sisters, but there is quite a lot of variation in use between families, and can refer to the "eldest son" or the "eldest child". To be clear, I'd often go with "長子長女" as a phrase.</p>

<p>A more neutral circumlocution would be 最大的 which is spans formal and informal, in-family and out-of-family use. It defaults to referring to age (not height / width!), but if you want to be specific, you can use 年紀最大的 with "age" included.</p>

<p>There isn't any two-syllable word for the <em>youngest</em> that my family uses, although 老小 and 老幺 I have now seen on searching the Internet. 最小的 is the usual gender-neutral way of expressing it.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-09-19T09:46:46.953Z
yes, after searching around for a while (e.g. [1](https://forum.wordreference.com/threads/%E5%A4%A7%E8%80%81-%E5%A4%A7%E4%BD%AC.2696794/), [2](https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Chinese_(Mandarin)/Slang)) 老大 seems to be *precisely* the word I'm looking for. Thanks!
uhoh
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-09-19T08:37:16.617Z
2018-09-19T08:37:16.617Z
Michaelyus
<p>Is there a gender neutral term for people who are first born in a family? </p>

<p>For example, if a mother, father, and older sibling are all the first born to their parents, is there a term that describes all of them?</p>

<p>A quick check translating "first born" to traditional Chinese using google shows 長女 and 長男, as well as 初生的 which I'm not clear about, but if I wanted to say that "other family members are all X's" and use the correct Chinese word for clarity and to avoid any ambiguity, is there a word or simple expression for this category of people within a family? Or even without being within one family?</p>

<p>I'm not sure if this should be asked separately or not, but if there happens to be a word or phrase for <em>the only person in a family who is not first born</em>, that would also be helpful.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-09-19T08:14:00.943Z
This is my first question here, help with tagging appreciated.
uhoh
<traditional-characters><kinship><gender>
Gender neutral term for family members who are all first born?
# Gender neutral term for family members who are all first born?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2018-09-19)

Is there a gender neutral term for people who are first born in a family?

For example, if a mother, father, and older sibling are all the first born to their parents, is there a term that describes all of them?

A quick check translating "first born" to traditional Chinese using google shows 長女 and 長男, as well as 初生的 which I'm not clear about, but if I wanted to say that "other family members are all X's" and use the correct Chinese word for clarity and to avoid any ambiguity, is there a word or simple expression for this category of people within a family? Or even without being within one family?

I'm not sure if this should be asked separately or not, but if there happens to be a word or phrase for *the only person in a family who is not first born*, that would also be helpful.

**Tags:** traditional-characters, kinship, gender
> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: This is my first question here, help with tagging appreciated.  

---

## 3 answers

### Answer by username_4 on 2018-09-19. Score: 9 | Accepted answer

Speaking from personal experience (as a 長孫 on my paternal side):

老大 would be the most common gender-neutral term used *within the family*. Very common.

長子 can refer to the one oldest child of brothers and sisters, but there is quite a lot of variation in use between families, and can refer to the "eldest son" or the "eldest child". To be clear, I'd often go with "長子長女" as a phrase.

A more neutral circumlocution would be 最大的 which is spans formal and informal, in-family and out-of-family use. It defaults to referring to age (not height / width!), but if you want to be specific, you can use 年紀最大的 with "age" included.

There isn't any two-syllable word for the *youngest* that my family uses, although 老小 and 老幺 I have now seen on searching the Internet. 最小的 is the usual gender-neutral way of expressing it.

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: yes, after searching around for a while (e.g. [1](https://forum.wordreference.com/threads/%E5%A4%A7%E8%80%81-%E5%A4%A7%E4%BD%AC.2696794/), [2](https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Chinese_(Mandarin)/Slang)) 老大 seems to be *precisely* the word I'm looking for. Thanks!  

---

### Answer by username_1 on 2018-09-19. Score: 3

there're terms for the "first-born-son" only. traditionally, females are not treated equally in a family.

so, the answer below is **not** gender neutral.

"嫡長子", "嫡子" or "宗子" - "first-born-son" of wife (the official one, not concubines)

<http://dict.revised.moe.edu.tw/cgi-bin/cbdic/gsweb.cgi?o=dcbdic&searchid=Z00000044984>

<http://dict.revised.moe.edu.tw/cgi-bin/cbdic/gsweb.cgi?o=dcbdic&searchid=Z00000044987>

<http://dict.revised.moe.edu.tw/cgi-bin/cbdic/gsweb.cgi?o=dcbdic&searchid=Z00000140215>

therefore, you might invent the term "嫡長女" as "first-born-daughter" :)

other male siblings in the family, including younger one of the same mother, or any male siblings of concubines, are called "庶子"

<http://dict.revised.moe.edu.tw/cgi-bin/cbdic/gsweb.cgi?o=dcbdic&searchid=Z00000133626>

have fun :)

> **Comments:**
> **username_2**: To clarify, 嫡子/庶子 has nothing to do with age. People might think that ancient Chinese men can have more than one wives but that is not true. Legally, a man can have only one 妻 (actual wife) and maybe multiple 妾(concubines). The man can have children with 妾, but generally, 妾 are considered as servents. The children of 妻 are called 嫡子, and children of 妾 are called 庶子. If a man have any children outside marriage they are also called 庶子. 嫡/庶 has nothing to do with age. 嫡长子 is the term for the firstborn son of 妻. legally, 嫡长子 is the one inherit the properties and the knighthood of the father.  
> **username_2**: I don't think it is a good idea to bring in the concept of 嫡/庶 when answering this question.  
> **username_1**: well, like it or not, it’s part of the culture. btw, it’s in the dictionary   

---

### Answer by username_3 on 2018-09-20. Score: 1

You could just put: 最大的孩子 or just 大的（孩子）. IE:

> 他们家有三个孩子， 大的都有16岁了
>
> 他们家最大的孩子已经16岁了。
>
> 他们家最大的已经16岁了。
>
> 他们家大的已经有16岁了。
>
> 他们家大的孩子都有16岁了。


---

