<p><strong>孔丘</strong> is Confucius's personal name 名 (míng) given to him as an infant. </p>

<p><strong>仲尼</strong>  (or 孔仲尼 if you add his family name) is Confucius's "courtesy name" 字 (zì), bestowed upon him at adulthood. </p>

<p><code>According to the Book of Rites, after a man reaches adulthood, it is disrespectful for others of the same generation to address him by his given name, or míng. Thus, the given name was reserved for oneself and one's elders, while the zì would be used by adults of the same generation to refer to one another on formal occasions or in writing; hence the term "courtesy name".</code>
<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Courtesy_name" rel="nofollow noreferrer">From the Wikipedia Entry of "Courtesy Name"</a></p>

<p><strong>孔子 or 孔夫子 (kǒng fū zǐ)</strong>, both means "Master Kong" to show respect. These are the most commonly heard name nowadays when referring to Confucius.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-03-19T03:11:23.820Z
丘 is Confucius's 名, 孔 is 姓
zypA13510
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-07-05T03:45:09.463Z
2019-07-05T03:45:09.463Z
Shadoweats
<p>First you need to know about how people were named at that time. Back then one's name had three parts:</p>

<p>姓 (family name), 名 (given name), 字(also given name, but doesn't exist today)</p>

<p>孔 was his 姓, 丘 was his 名, and 仲尼 was his 字.</p>

<p>I don't need to explain the family name much. As for 名 and 字, the difference is that 字 is more formal than 名. And one often calls himself by 名 to show modesty and calls the one he is talking to or mentioning by 字 to show respect.</p>

<p>Finally, "子" is a suffix after the family name to mention someone who is well-respected (for example, a teacher, a well-educated person, etc., and Confucius was both and more).</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-07-05T08:06:10.237Z
字 is translated _courtesy name / style name_ in English.
Michaelyus
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-07-05T22:17:56.737Z
actually his 姓 is 子 while his 氏 is 孔
Archeosudoerus
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-03-19T03:16:00.180Z
@Archeosudoerus but it should be noted that the 子 in 姓 is not the same as 子 in suffix.
zypA13510
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-03-31T18:00:33.680Z
@zypA13510 yes, they are not the same haha. Super confusion happens in Confucius name
Archeosudoerus
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-07-05T03:37:39.373Z
2019-07-05T03:45:39.327Z
2019-07-05T03:45:39.327Z
trisct
<blockquote>
<p><strong>Chinese mostly call &quot;Confucius&quot; as &quot;孔子&quot;</strong></p>
<p>孔 is his family name, 子 is an honorific reserved only for the greatest intellectuals/ philosophers</p>
</blockquote>
<ul>
<li><p>丘 is his first name.</p>
</li>
<li><p>仲尼 is his <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Courtesy_name" rel="nofollow noreferrer">courtesy name</a></p>
</li>
<li><p>聖 is an honorific reserved only for the most respected person, therefore, people sometimes refer 孔子 as 孔聖</p>
</li>
<li><p>孔子 is also referred as 萬世師表 (model for all teachers in all time)</p>
</li>
<li><p>The term &quot;孔夫子&quot; is also referring to &quot;Confucius&quot;. 夫子 is another honorific for great intellectuals</p>
</li>
</ul>
<blockquote>
<p><strong>If you study Chinese Culture, you have to know about these people</strong>: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Confucius" rel="nofollow noreferrer">孔子</a>， <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laozi" rel="nofollow noreferrer">老子</a>，<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zhuang_Zhou" rel="nofollow noreferrer">莊子</a>，<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mencius" rel="nofollow noreferrer">孟子</a>，<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sun_Tzu" rel="nofollow noreferrer">孫子</a> and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mozi" rel="nofollow noreferrer">墨子</a></p>
</blockquote>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-07-05T03:46:30.813Z
2019-07-05T04:08:29.473Z
2020-06-17T09:50:11.587Z
Tang Ho
<p>There seems to be at least three ways of saying "Confucius" in Chinese:</p>

<ul>
<li><a href="http://youdao.com/w/eng/%20%E5%AD%94%E5%AD%90" rel="nofollow noreferrer">孔子</a> (Kǒngzǐ)</li>
<li><a href="http://youdao.com/w/eng/%E5%AD%94%E4%B8%98" rel="nofollow noreferrer">孔丘</a> (Kǒngqiū)</li>
<li><a href="http://youdao.com/w/eng/%E4%BB%B2%E5%B0%BC" rel="nofollow noreferrer">仲尼</a> (Zhòngní) with some variants:

<ul>
<li><a href="http://youdao.com/w/%E5%AD%97%E4%BB%B2%E5%B0%BC" rel="nofollow noreferrer">字仲尼</a> (Zì Zhòngní)</li>
<li><a href="http://youdao.com/w/%E5%AD%94%E4%BB%B2%E5%B0%BC" rel="nofollow noreferrer">孔仲尼</a> (Kǒng Zhòngní)</li>
</ul></li>
</ul>

<p>(There's possibly more I'm unaware of.)</p>

<p>I'm just wondering if these are all the same, or if there's some distinction between them.</p>

<p><strong>Question</strong>: Are there distinctions between the various terms for "Confucius"?</p>

<difference><names>
Are there distinctions between the various terms for "Confucius" (孔子, 孔丘, 仲尼)?
# Are there distinctions between the various terms for "Confucius" (孔子, 孔丘, 仲尼)?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2019-07-05)

There seems to be at least three ways of saying "Confucius" in Chinese:

* [孔子](http://youdao.com/w/eng/%20%E5%AD%94%E5%AD%90) (Kǒngzǐ)
* [孔丘](http://youdao.com/w/eng/%E5%AD%94%E4%B8%98) (Kǒngqiū)
* [仲尼](http://youdao.com/w/eng/%E4%BB%B2%E5%B0%BC) (Zhòngní) with some variants:
  + [字仲尼](http://youdao.com/w/%E5%AD%97%E4%BB%B2%E5%B0%BC) (Zì Zhòngní)
  + [孔仲尼](http://youdao.com/w/%E5%AD%94%E4%BB%B2%E5%B0%BC) (Kǒng Zhòngní)

(There's possibly more I'm unaware of.)

I'm just wondering if these are all the same, or if there's some distinction between them.

**Question**: Are there distinctions between the various terms for "Confucius"?

**Tags:** difference, names

---

## 3 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2019-07-05. Score: 2 | Accepted answer

**孔丘** is Confucius's personal name 名 (míng) given to him as an infant.

**仲尼** (or 孔仲尼 if you add his family name) is Confucius's "courtesy name" 字 (zì), bestowed upon him at adulthood.

`According to the Book of Rites, after a man reaches adulthood, it is disrespectful for others of the same generation to address him by his given name, or míng. Thus, the given name was reserved for oneself and one's elders, while the zì would be used by adults of the same generation to refer to one another on formal occasions or in writing; hence the term "courtesy name".`
[From the Wikipedia Entry of "Courtesy Name"](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Courtesy_name)

**孔子 or 孔夫子 (kǒng fū zǐ)**, both means "Master Kong" to show respect. These are the most commonly heard name nowadays when referring to Confucius.

> **Comments:**
> **username_2**: 丘 is Confucius's 名, 孔 is 姓  

---

### Answer by username_3 on 2019-07-05. Score: 2

First you need to know about how people were named at that time. Back then one's name had three parts:

姓 (family name), 名 (given name), 字(also given name, but doesn't exist today)

孔 was his 姓, 丘 was his 名, and 仲尼 was his 字.

I don't need to explain the family name much. As for 名 and 字, the difference is that 字 is more formal than 名. And one often calls himself by 名 to show modesty and calls the one he is talking to or mentioning by 字 to show respect.

Finally, "子" is a suffix after the family name to mention someone who is well-respected (for example, a teacher, a well-educated person, etc., and Confucius was both and more).

> **Comments:**
> **username_4**: 字 is translated _courtesy name / style name_ in English.  
> **username_5**: actually his 姓 is 子 while his 氏 is 孔  
> **username_2**: @Archeosudoerus but it should be noted that the 子 in 姓 is not the same as 子 in suffix.  
> **username_5**: @zypA13510 yes, they are not the same haha. Super confusion happens in Confucius name  

---

### Answer by username_6 on 2019-07-05. Score: 1

> **Chinese mostly call "Confucius" as "孔子"**
>
> 孔 is his family name, 子 is an honorific reserved only for the greatest intellectuals/ philosophers

* 丘 is his first name.
* 仲尼 is his [courtesy name](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Courtesy_name)
* 聖 is an honorific reserved only for the most respected person, therefore, people sometimes refer 孔子 as 孔聖
* 孔子 is also referred as 萬世師表 (model for all teachers in all time)
* The term "孔夫子" is also referring to "Confucius". 夫子 is another honorific for great intellectuals

> **If you study Chinese Culture, you have to know about these people**: [孔子](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Confucius)， [老子](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laozi)，[莊子](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zhuang_Zhou)，[孟子](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mencius)，[孫子](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sun_Tzu) and [墨子](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mozi)


---

