Zedongs

Zedongs is a term used in English to refer to people whose Chinese given name is Zedong (泽东 or 澤東). In Mandarin, Zedong is a two-syllable masculine given name rather than a family name. The first character, 泽/澤, can be read as “ze” and conveys ideas associated with moisture, grace, or marshland, while the second character, 东/東, means “east.” The combination is generally interpreted as a positive or aspirational name, though the exact meaning depends on the characters chosen by a family.

The name is most famously associated with Mao Zedong (毛泽东), the Chinese political leader who founded the People's Republic of China in 1949. Mao’s given name Zedong uses the same two characters, and in many contexts the sequence “Zedong” is closely linked to him. Outside of this prominent figure, Zedong is relatively uncommon as a given name and individuals bearing it are not widely documented in English-language sources.

In broader linguistic and cultural terms, Zedong illustrates typical patterns of Chinese naming, where two-character given names are common for males. The interpretation and preferred characters can vary, so other people named Zedong might use different but phonetically similar writings. Among Chinese communities abroad, the name may appear with varying transliterations depending on personal or familial choice.