The "name" and "word" of the ancients are also commonly used to represent generations in the family. Before the name, Jaber (Meng), Zhong, Shu, Ji, etc. were often used to indicate the young and old. Among them "Bo" and "Meng" are different. My son (female) by my first wife is called "Bo", and my son (female) by my concubine is called "Meng". Such as Boyi and Shu Qi, Boyi is a brother, Boyi is a brother; Confucius is Zhong's second child. Meng Jiangnv is Jiang's eldest daughter. Some words are followed by "father" (father) to indicate gender. Wang pointed out in the Exegesis of Names in the Spring and Autumn Period that when the names of the ancients were linked, there were words first, then names. Called "a father", such as his father Zhong, etc. After Qin and Han Dynasties, people were given names first, such as Uncle Zheng. Here is a name, and Uncle Zi is a word. After the Han dynasty, the same word or the same radical in "name" or "word" gradually expressed the reciprocal relationship. For example, Yan Gaoqing, a famous anti-An Lushan fighter in the Tang Dynasty, shared the word "Qing" with his younger brothers Yan Yaoqing and Yan, and his cousin Yan Zhenqing, a great calligrapher of their generation, also used the word "Qing". Su Shi and Su Zhe, writers in Song Dynasty, shared the radical "che" to express their peers. His son and Zhu share the second word, and the third word shares the word "ju"; Zhu Youjian, Emperor Chongzhen of Ming Dynasty, hanged himself on Jingshan Mountain, and shared the second word "You" with his brother Zhu Youxiao (Emperor of Ming Dynasty), cousins Zhu Youlang (Emperor of Nan Ming Dynasty) and Zhu Yousong (Emperor of Nan Ming Dynasty), and the third word shared the side of "Mu". In this case, the first word in the name is the surname shared by father and ancestor, and half of the second and third words are the generation names shared by brothers, and only half are specific to individuals.

Some ancient people had "numbers" in addition to names and characters. "Hao" is a fixed alias, also known as another name. Middle and upper class people in feudal society, especially literati, were often named after their addresses and interests, including fasting names and house names. For example, Li Bai's Qinglian lay in Tang Dynasty, Du Fu's Shaoling Night Elder, Su Shi's Dongpo lay in Song Dynasty, Liu Ruju lay in Tang Yin in Ming Dynasty and Banqiao lay in Zheng Xie in Qing Dynasty are all well known to later generations. Some nicknames even exceed real names. Nicknames are created by users themselves, unlike names that are restricted by family members and peers, so users can express or flaunt some emotions more freely. Common nicknames such as "lay man" and "mountain man" only show users' contempt for Li Lu's interests. In the Song Dynasty, Ouyang Xiu's nickname in his later years was "61 Jushi", which was named after "1000 books, 1000 volumes of ancient inscriptions, a piano, a chess game, a pot of wine and an old man himself", and there were six "ones". Lu You, a patriotic poet in the Southern Song Dynasty, was worried about the country and the people and was filled with indignation. Laughed at by dignitaries for not keeping etiquette, they called themselves "letting the birds fly" to show their contempt. Zheng Sixiao, a painter in the Southern Song Dynasty, claimed to be "Sonan" after the death of the Song Dynasty, indicating that his heart turned to the south. Zhu Da, a painter in the late Ming Dynasty, was a descendant of Zhu Quan, the king of Ning in the Ming Dynasty. After his death, he became a monk. Appreciating the Buddhist scriptures of the eight disciples, he took serial names such as "Badashanren" and "Bada", which seemed to be "crying" instead of "laughing", meaning "laughing and crying" to express his grief and indignation at missing the motherland. Of course, more bureaucratic gentry and feudal literati take all kinds of nice nicknames, but they are just pretences of being arty and chasing after fame.

There are also "nicknames", which are recognized by others and are descriptions and descriptions of people. During the Spring and Autumn Period, Prissy was banished to the State of Chu, and Qin Mugong redeemed Prissy with five black sheepskins. He is called "Doctor Five", which is an ancient nickname. Li Yifu, a traitor in the Tang Dynasty, was called "the knife in laughter". In the Song Dynasty, Wang became the prime minister for more than ten years, and did nothing but "take orders, take orders and preach orders". At that time, he was named "Prime Minister of Three Orders". These two nicknames vividly outline the faces of feudal bureaucrats. In Water Margin, 108 Liangshan heroes all have nicknames, most of which accurately describe the character, specialty or physiological characteristics. These nicknames are well-known names, such as Li Kui jy, Wu Yong, Lin Chong, Leopard Head, Yang Zhi, Zhu Tong, Sun Erniang, Dragon and Flea on Drum.