According to a famous anecdote, the ancestors of Irgen Gioro were the emperors Huizong, Qinzong, and other imperial family members of Song dynasty who were captured by the Jurchens in the Jingkang Incident of the Jin–Song wars.

[18] In order to differentiate from Aisin Gioro the Manchu imperial family,[19] "Irgen" was added with the meaning of "regular citizen" or "common people" and the implication of "non-imperial".

[26] Irgen Gioro also earned numerous titles of minor nobility and 40 hereditary peers as captains (Manchu: ᠨᡳᡵᡠᡳᠵᠠᠩᡤᡳᠨ, Möllendorff: nirui janggin[27]) in Banner Armies.

[31][32][33] Other utilization of Chinese family names, such as Tong, Gu, Yi, Sa, Gong, Zhao (兆), Cao, Bao, Zhe, Xi, Yu, Ge, Ma, Gao, Hu, Bai, and Chen, are also reported.

[34] Due to the variety of its origins, C-F3830,[35]C-M504,[36] and O-CTS723[36] have been reported as Irgen Gioro's Y-chromosome DNA haplogroups in modern research samples.