Xiongnu
The Xiongnu () were a confederation of nomadic peoples who, according to ancient Chinese sources, inhabited the eastern Asian Steppe from the 3rd century BC to the late 1st century AD. Chinese sources report that Modu Chanyu, the supreme leader after 209 BC, founded the Xiongnu Empire.
Huns
Since Joseph de Guignes in the , modern historians have associated the Huns who appeared on the borders of Europe in the with the Xiongnu who had invaded China from the territory of present-day Mongolia between the and the . Due to the devastating defeat by the Chinese Han dynasty, the northern branch of the Xiongnu had retreated north-westward; their descendants may have migrated through Eurasia and consequently they may have some degree of cultural and genetic continuity with the Huns. Scholars also discussed the relationship between the Xungnu, the Huns, and a number of people in central Asia were also known as or came to be identified with the name "Hun" or "Iranian Huns", the Chionites, the Kidarites, and the Hephthalites (or White Huns) being the most prominent.