Given name & surname · Chinese · Hani · Japanese · Vietnamese
林
“jungle; forest; country; field”
林 is a surname from Proto-Sino-Tibetan. It is used in Chinese, Japanese, and Vietnamese.
Chinese and Hani and Japanese and VietnameseWritten in Chinese characters script. In English: Rin.
Meaning & origin
What it means
林 goes back to Proto-Sino-Tibetan *rəm, meaning “jungle; forest; country; field.”
Adapted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0)
How it developed
From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *rəm (“jungle; forest; country; field”).
Adapted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0)
林’s family of names
In Japanese usage, 林 can be written in the Roman alphabet as Rin. In Japanese usage, 林 can be written in the Roman alphabet as HAYASHI. In Japanese usage, 林 as a surname has a transliteration in おお-い.
Inner ring: spellings · outer: across languages.
Around the world
林 has relatives in 4 languages.
5 related names in 4 languages. Point at a dot, or tab to the map and use the arrow keys.
Spellings & scripts 5
The same name written differently, including transliterations into other scripts.
Across languages 1
Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.
People named 林
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
Similar names
If you love 林, these share its style, era, origin or sound, from outside its own family.
Zogović
“bird”
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“from the river of inspiration”
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“plum tree”
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“flower”
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Xiomara
“famous in battle” · “from the glorious forest”
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Yoleah
“resembling the violet flower”
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Gülajar
“flower” · “appearance”
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Daisea
“of the day's eye; resembling a flower”
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