Dugu (獨孤) is an extremely rare Chinese compound surname of Xianbei origin.[1] There is also a small Korean population (Namwon Dokgo clan) with this surname (stylized as Dokgo or Tokko (독고) in Korean); many of them are found in North Korea, mainly in Ryongchon County and Uiju County near the Chinese border.

During the 6th century the Dugus were a powerful aristocratic family based in northwest China. They are best remembered today by the Dugu sisters, whose marriages linked the imperial families of 3 successive dynasties — the Northern Zhou (557–581), Sui (581–618), and Tang (618–907).

Shimunek (2017) reconstructs Tabgach *dʊqʊ which underlaid Chinese transcription 獨孤, which was glossed as 劉 "battle-axe".[2]

Notable people

References

  1. ^ Shang, Huping (2019-06-27). The Belt and Road Initiative: Key Concepts. Springer. p. 78. ISBN 978-981-13-9201-6. The Xianbei surnames which were changed to Han surnames include: [...] Dugu [...]
  2. ^ Shimunek, Andrew (2017). Languages of Ancient Southern Mongolia and North China: a Historical-Comparative Study of the Serbi or Xianbei Branch of the Serbi-Mongolic Language Family, with an Analysis of Northeastern Frontier Chinese and Old Tibetan Phonology. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz Verlag. ISBN 978-3-447-10855-3. OCLC 993110372.
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