Ming is composed of 夕 hsi evening and 口 k'ou mouth as radical. It is explained thus: "In the evening it is dark and one cannot see, so that it is necessary for a man to call out his name." The word ming is now mostly used of a man's personal name, which is taboo except to parents and to the sovereign. Tou's five sons all rose to high office.

Ming is an ideogram formed by juxtaposition of 日 jih the sun, its modern radical, and 月 yüeh the moon , and means bright.