In history books or ancient books, we often see that in addition to names, ancient people also had characters. Ancient people had "names" and "characters", and "names" were also called "original names."
The old saying is that the ancient baby was named by his father three months after birth (of course there is also a theory that the name can be given after birth);
And "zi" is also called "zi" "Biaozi" is a name that is related to the real name in addition to the real name. The man chooses the name when he is crowned at the age of twenty (however, in the troubled times of the Three Kingdoms and the ideological rebellion, the wording of the crown is not necessarily followed. Cao Chong, Sun Liang all died before they were crowned and all had their own characters), while women were given their characters when they performed hairpin ceremony at the age of fifteen.
The name existed before the Xia Dynasty, and the wording is said to have begun in the Shang Dynasty. For example, Shang Tang, who overthrew Xia Jie, was originally named Lu, also known as Tianyi, with the courtesy name Tang. Also, there is a difference between a name and a given name. In ancient times, people often called themselves by their given names to show humility, and called people by their given names to show respect for them. In addition, using a combined surname and given name also shows respect for others.
Extended information:
It is said that in ancient times, babies were named by their fathers when they were three months old. This is the origin of the "name" of the ancients. In fact, among the Chinese people, some areas still retain the custom of naming babies when they are one month old. However, the right to name is no longer held by the father alone, but by the baby's relatives.
Interestingly, in ancient times, when a boy reached the age of 20, he would have a "hair-tying and crowning" ceremony to show that he was an adult. When a girl reaches the age of 15, she must hold a ceremony of "tying her hair and adding a knot" to show that she is ready to marry. At this time, she also needs to pick her name. It can be seen that in ancient times, both men and women had their own prefixes. For example, the modern female revolutionary Qiu Jin had the prefix Xuanqing.
Baidu Encyclopedia—Name