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Updated January 23, 2020

Family name origins & meanings

  • South German : nickname for a lively, alert person, from Middle High German genge ‘sprightly’.
  • Chinese : this surname was adopted during the Shang dynasty (1766–1122 bc) by inhabitants of an area called Geng. According to one source, Geng was a state; after it was conquered, some of the inhabitants adopted the name of the state as their surname. According to another source, Geng was the name of the city that was made capital of the region.

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