Name and title variations

Summary

Genghis Khan’s name and titles appear in many forms because Mongolian has no single universal romanization system, and the name was transmitted through different languages and writing systems. His honorific is most commonly rendered in English as “Genghis,” but it ultimately traces back to the Mongolian form ᠴᠢᠩᠭᠢᠰ (often romanized as Činggis). This was adapted into Chinese as 成吉思 (Chéngjísī) and into Persian as چنگیز (Čəngīz), with further variations in Arabic and Syriac renderings due to sound differences (e.g., the Mongolian/Persian ⟨č⟩). As a result, modern English spellings include “Chinggis,” “Chingis,” “Jinghis,” and “Jengiz,” and his birth name Temüjin is also sometimes spelled “Temuchin.”

Key Points

• 1

  “Genghis” is an honorific derived from Mongolian ᠴᠢᠩᠭᠢᠰ (Činggis), transmitted through Chinese and Persian, producing multiple spellings in English.

• 2

  There is no universal romanization for Mongolian, so modern spellings of Temüjin and related names vary and may differ in pronunciation from the original.

• 3

  After Genghis’s death, later rulers (notably Kublai Khan) bestowed temple and posthumous names that were expanded further by subsequent descendants.