Taking the names of ancestors not only disturbs the order of generation; it is also seen as disrespectful to the ancestors.
When Sima Qian wrote "Historical Records", he changed "Zhao Tan" to "Zhao Tong" and "Li Tan" to "Li Tong". This is because his father's name is "Tan", so he should avoid it. Ancient people could not use or write the names of their ancestors indiscriminately when speaking or writing, and they deliberately avoided taboos when using them. In addition to not mentioning the names of ancestors, it is more important to avoid mentioning the names of ancestors when naming children.
Under the feudal system, people not only had to "respect their ancestors" but also regarded them as supreme. Even calling the monarch by his first name was treasonous. During the Yongzheng and Qianlong periods of the Qing Dynasty, this article alone could lead to the death penalty and affect the nine ethnic groups. Therefore, this taboo was called "national taboo".
In order to avoid the taboo of Li Hu, the grandfather of Emperor Gaozu of the Tang Dynasty, people in the Tang Dynasty changed the idiom "If you don't enter the tiger's den, how can you catch the tiger's cubs" to "If you don't enter the beast's den, how can you catch the beast's cubs"; "Anti-class dog" was changed to "An anti-class dog". Emperor Qianlong of the Qing Dynasty did not allow people to have "Five Blessings" on their lintels because the name of his ancestor, Emperor Shunzhi, was "Fu Lin".
Feng Dao of the Five Dynasties was good at being an official. After several dynasties, he was once the prime minister and was known as the tumbler. One day, he asked his disciples to teach him the Tao Te Ching. The first sentence at the beginning of "Tao Te Ching" is "Tao, can be Tao, but is not Tao." When the disciples saw that there were three words "dao" in one sentence, which violated Feng Dao's name, they changed the word "dao" to "dare not say". So, this sentence became: "I dare not say, I dare not say, I dare not say."
Song Yihe, the governor of Huguang in the late Ming Dynasty, once went to see the governor Yang Sichang. Because Yang Sichang's father's name was He, in order to avoid taboos, he changed his name on the name post to Song Yiniao.
The above stories may sound ridiculous, but they also reflect people’s taboo customs. When modern people name their children, they generally don’t use words that repeat the names of their parents.
In addition, as far as modern people are concerned, just in terms of names, they generally do not name them after great people or celebrities. Following the name of a celebrity is a mechanical imitation, which is not creative and does not conform to the spirit of independence. It covers up one's own original personality. Young people must be confident, neither inferior nor arrogant. Admiring celebrities does not necessarily mean imitating their names.