Yǐn (surname)

Yin is a Chinese surname. In 800 BCE, Bo Jifu, a renowned judge during the reign of King Xuan of Zhou, held the position of Yin (equivalent to First Minister or most favored Minister) and changed his name to Yin Jifu. During the era of the Imperial Examination System, three other magistrates took on the surname Yǐn (尹) to denote their Imperial rank and favoured status. It is the 100th name on the Hundred Family Surnames poem.

The Korean surname Yun and the Vietnamese surname Doãn are derived from Yin and traditionally written in the same Chinese character.

A 2013 study found it to be the 79th most common surname, being shared by 3,460,000 people or 0.260% of the population, with the province with the most being Hunan.

Notable people

 * Yiin Chii-ming (尹啟銘; born 1952) Minister of Economic Affairs of the Republic of China (2008–2009)
 * Yin Fu (尹福), creator of a sub-branch of the Bagua martial art; bodyguard to the Empress Dowager Cixi and personal trainer of the Emperor.
 * Yin Han and Yin Zhen, members of the judiciary of the Han dynasty.
 * Yin Lin, a painter of the Tang dynasty.
 * Yin Zhongke, a member of the judiciary of the Song dynasty.
 * Yin Zhangsheng, a painter of the Song dynasty,
 * Yin Wen, a personal tutor of princes of the Ming dynasty
 * Wan Kwong (尹光, born 1949 in Saigon, Vietnam), Hong Kong pop singer, born Lui Minkwong (呂明光 and also known as Jackson Wan Kwong), a singer from Hong Kong, known as "The Temple Street Prince"
 * Yin Li (politician), Governor of Sichuan (2016–)
 * Wan Kuok-koi (尹國駒; born 1955), popularly known as Broken Tooth Koi, former leader of the Macau branch of the 14K Triad
 * Yin Zheng (尹正, born 1986), Chinese actor
 * Terence Yin Chi-wai (尹子維; born 1975), a Chinese film actor
 * Samuel Yin (尹衍樑; born 1950) Taiwanese billionaire businessman and philanthropist
 * Xi Yin (尹希; born 1983) a Chinese-American theoretical physicist
 * Yin Mingshan (尹明善; born 1938 in Chongqing, Sichuan) a Chinese businessman, the chairman of Lifan Industrial Corporation
 * Yin Haoyu (尹浩宇; born 2003), also known as Patrick Finkler. Thai-German actor, singer, songwriter and model, member of the multi-national Chinese group INTO1, a debuted boy group of Produce Camp 2021.