What does the name Beijing mean?
Names of Beijing
Ji and Jicheng: The first major known settlement was the eponymous capital of the ancient Ji state between the 11th and 7th centuries BC. The settlement was also known as Jicheng. It was located in the current city's Guang'anmen neighborhood south of the Beijing West Railway Station. 
Ji: simplified Chinese:蓟; traditional Chinese:薊; pinyin:Jì; Wade–Giles:Chi
Jicheng: Chinese:薊城; pinyin:Jìchéng; Wade–Giles:Chi-cheng; literally: 'Ji City'
Yan and Yanjing: Ji was conquered by Yan around the 7th century BC but was employed as its conqueror's new capital and therefore also known as Yan and Yanjing. The name was employed in the titles of An Lushan (as Emperor of Yan), Liu Rengong (as King of Yan), and the Princes of Yan. The Khitans of the 10th- to 12th-century Liao Dynasty fully restored the name Yanjing and it remains a common informal name for Beijing, as reflected in the locally brewed Yanjing Beer and the former Yenching University (since merged into Peking University).
Yan: Chinese:燕; pinyin:Yān; Wade–Giles:Yen
Yanjing: Chinese:燕京; pinyin:Yānjīng
Guangyang: After the Qin conquest, Ji was made the capital of the Guangyang Commandery.
simplified Chinese:广阳郡; traditional Chinese:廣陽郡; pinyin:Guǎngyángjùn; Wade–Giles:Kuang-yang Chün
Fanyang and Yuyang: During the Han Dynasty, the commandery was renamed Yuyang and the city itself renamed Fanyang.
Yuyang: simplified Chinese:渔阳郡; traditional Chinese:漁陽郡; pinyin:Yúyángjùn; Wade–Giles:Yü-yang Chün
Fanyang: simplified Chinese:范阳; traditional Chinese:范陽; pinyin:Fànyáng; Wade–Giles:Fan-yang
Jixian: From the 1st century BC until at least the AD 4th-century Western Jin dynasty, Jixian served as the capital of Youzhou province.
simplified Chinese:蓟县; traditional Chinese:薊縣; pinyin:Jìxiàn; Wade–Giles:Chi-hsien
Youzhou: Under the Tang Dynasty, the city generally employed Youzhou as its name. During the Tianbao Era of Emperor Xuanzong, however, the name Fanyang was restored as its own commandery.
Chinese:幽州; pinyin:Yōuzhōu; Wade–Giles:Yu-chou
Nanjing: In the 10th and 12th centuries, the northerly Liao Dynasty restored the name Yanjing. They also knew the city as Nanjing as it was the southernmost of their secondary capitals.
Chinese:南京; pinyin:Nánjīng; Wade–Giles:Nan-ching
Zhongdu: During the 12th-century Later Jin dynasty, it was known as Zhongdu.
Chinese:中都; pinyin:Zhōngdū; literally: 'Central Capital'
Khanbaliq: The Mongolian Yuan Dynasty originally restored the name Yanjing before constructing a new capital adjacent to the former settlement. This settlement was called Dadu[8] in Chinese and Daidu in Mongolian.[9] (As Khanbaliq, it was noted as Cambuluc[10] by Marco Polo.) This city gradually absorbed the former settlements around the area.
Chinese:大都; pinyin:Dàdū; literally: 'Great Capital'
Beiping: Under the Ming Dynasty, the city itself was initially known as Beiping. The name reads literally as "Northern Peace", although its usage and connotations are closer to the idea of "Northern Plains".
Chinese:北平; pinyin:Běipíng; Wade–Giles:Pei-p'ing; literally: 'Northern Peace'
Shuntian and Beizhili: When the usurping Yongle Emperor established his base of Beiping as a secondary capital in 1403, he renamed the town Shuntian and the province-level region surrounding it Beizhili to mimic the names of Yingtian (modern Nanjing) and the province of Zhili that surrounds it.[11]
Shuntian: simplified Chinese:顺天; traditional Chinese:順天; pinyin:Shùntiān; Wade–Giles:Shün-t'ien; literally: 'Obedient to Heaven'
Beizhili: simplified Chinese:北直隶; traditional Chinese:北直隸; pinyin:Běizhílì; Wade–Giles:Pei-chih-li
Jingshi and Beijing: When the palace was finally completed in 1420, the Yongle Emperor moved the majority of his court north. The name Jingshi ceased to be used for Yingtian and was now employed for Shuntian. The area around Yingtian became known as Nanjing while Beijing was used to describe the area directly administered by the capital (generally modern Hebei).[11]
Jingshi: simplified Chinese:京师; traditional Chinese:京師; pinyin:Jīngshī; Wade–Giles:Ching-shih; literally: 'Capital'
Beiping, in both its connotations, was restored as the name in 1928 by the Republic of China following its reconquest of Beijing from the warlords during the Northern Expedition.[10] The occupying Japanese in 1937 imposed the name Peking (Beijing), then with their surrender in 1945, the Nationalist Government restored "Beiping". In 1949, the official name again reverted to "Peking" (the Postal Romanization) when the Communists conquered the capital during the Chinese Civil War and founded the People's Republic of China. As noted above, the pinyin romanization, "Beijing", was adopted for use within the country in 1958, and for international use in 1979. The American government continued to follow the Nationalist government in using "Beiping" until the late 1960s.[10]
Chinese:北平; pinyin:Běipíng