origin of chinese surnames

The Chinese surname or family name, different from the western surname name is usually placed before a person's given name. We have thousands of names from cultures around the world. Chinese names are normally a combination of two to three Chinese characters, showing one’s surname and given name.However, different from a western name, the Chinese surname is placed before the person’s given name. Have a Chinese last name? Find out its meaning and origin here. Many early last names contain the character for woman. Gān (Chinese: 甘; IPA: /kan⁵⁵/).Ancient sources differ on the origin of this surname. According to tradition, the Hu (胡) surname has several historical origins. This appendix lists the top 100 most common surnames, surnames by origin, and the full list of surnames. ), only the royal family and the aristocratic elite in China used surnames. Some sources indicate that there are fifteen Wang clans, but only two can be identified: the Kaesong Wang clan and the Chenam Wang clan. Lang is more common in the United States than Lange. This surname is known as Hwang in Korean.In Vietnamese, the name is known as Hoàng or Huỳnh.. Huang is the 7th most common surname in China. With more than 4,700 Chinese family names in use today, find out how the Chan in Jackie Chan dates back to 1046BC and why Bruce Lee owes his name to a plum tree. The influence of the Chinese language on Japanese, Korean, and Vietnamese largely stems from this period. Top 15 Chinese Surnames in 2020 Wáng (王) Wáng is the most common surname in mainland China and is a royal surname meaning “King.” This surname has origins from multiple royal families from the Qin dynasty to the Tang dynasty. For a Chinese people, it’s in most of the cases the same as his father’s surname. Standard Mandarin, Cantonese and Min Nan transliterations are displayed. Surnames have been used to represent the origin of clans and families, recording the kindred formation of the Chinese nation. Chinese: Origin; Meaning "gold" Region of origin: China: Other names ; Variant form(s) Gyim Kam Kym Kim: The other, less common, surnames that are "Jin" in pinyin include Jìn (晋/晉) and Jìn 金 (Jīn) Mythology. When it comes to surnames, often a lot of meaning and history. There are some indications that … Traditionally, Chinese surnames precede a person's given name. Some places, such as Taiwan, usually romanise this family name into Kao.In Hong Kong, it is romanized to Ko.In Macau, it is romanized to Kou.In 2019 it was the 19th most common surname in Mainland China. In most cases, a Chinese surname is of one Chinese word. FE-Baby Name. Those with the surname Wang are likely descendants of royalty. Lǐ (李) If the English spelling of your last name is different from that of the table, please send us a note and we will add that to our table. Origins. Origin of Deng*, Tang*, Teng*, Thian*, Thean* Famous People in History: The 34 th most common last name in China. Chung, Yoon-Ngan. ChinaVista: Discover China: The China Experience: the origin of Chinese Surnames... Ron Young's Chinese Surnames Find surname characters and descriptions, a romanized list of names, links to other genealogy resources, and a guest query form. Note that in Hong Kong and regions with Cantonese-speaking populations, the surname Xin (辛) is also transliterated as Sun. The site features over 2,000 surnames from around the world, have a look around and I'm sure you will find yours. 95. As with many Chinese surnames, the origins of the Pan are various and sometimes legendary. This surname has a toponymic origin, and refers to the Zheng state, which is presently known as Henan Province. Other transliterations, used before the formalization and popularization of existing Romanizations, are still used by some overseas Chinese. Other variations in spelling include Chang, Chang. Zhao means ‘an ancient city’ and Zhao surnames are quite popular in the Mandarin-speaking regions of China. Zheng. This interesting and rare name may derive from two possible origins. King Wu of Zhou (r. 1046-043 BCE) enfeoffed his son-in-law Gui Man 媯滿 (supposedly a descendant of the legendary sage king Emperor Shun) with the state of Chen (in modern Henan Province). Find out the meaning and history behind your last name. Have a Chinese last name? See also: First names by country of origin. Did you know that the people with the top 3 surnames in China are more than the population in Indonesia? The origin of Chinese surnames = Hua ren xing shi de lai yuan / by Chung Yoon-Ngan ; edited by Chung Voon-Li, Chung Soo-Ming, Simmonds Jeffrey = by Zheng Yongyuan ; edited by Zheng Wenli, Zheng Suming, Simmonds Jeffrey Yoon-Ngan Chung through Rio Bay Publishing Nedlands, W.A 2000. A 2013 study found it to be the 12th most common name, shared by 18,300,000 people or 1.380% of the population, with the province with the most being Shandong.. Last Names by Origin. Baby Names Baby Names. The Kaesong Wang clan, which originated in China, ruled the Korean peninsula for almost five hundred years as the ruling dynasty of the Koryo period (918–1392). Chinese family name can made by your English name. There are approximately 16 million living people with this surname. Some of the interesting facts you'll learn about your surname: Meaning and History; Where your family lived in the U.S. and U.K. Average life expectancy; Common occupations; Enter your last name above to get started! Many other foreign surnames have Chinese origins as well. Although, the more recent use of westernized names has led to a flip of surnames and given names. & Simmonds, … The Vietnamese family name Phan is the romanization of the local version of the Chinese surname 潘 (Pan). Find out the origins of your last name, search for the surnames in your family tree, or learn how surnames have developed and changed over time. Australian/Harvard Citation . & Chung, Soo-Ming. The Lange spelling of the surname, on the other hand, is most common in Germany (26th), followed by Greenland (47th) and Denmark (107th). Find out its meaning and origin here. Jin is an ancient surname, dating back over 4,000 years. 96. Their ranks in 1990 are shown by the side. 1) Descendents of Xia Yu.The great grand son of Xia Yu, Zhong Kang, awarded his son, the duke of Deng in Gu Deng Lin (south of Deng Zhou in HeNan), during the Xia Dynasty. Do you have an Indian last name? ), while China was largely a feudal society, both family names (Chinese: 姓; pinyin: xìng) and clan names (氏; pinyin: shì), were used. The origin of the Chinese surname Chung or Zeng. Origin of Chinese surnames. If you don't find your last name, please send us a note also, so that we will try to find the origin of your Chinese last name and add it to our web. Zhong comes from Zhongli state situated in the river Huai, and the word refers to ‘bell’. Until the Qin Dynasty (third century B.C.E. History. First, Hu could derive from the family of Duke Hu of Chen. China has nearly 1.4 billion people live in the country and the top 100 Chinese surnames cover around 85% of the total population. In China, you will run into the same surnames again and again, so it helps to become familiar with the most common ones. This is a list of the top 100 most common Chinese surnames according to a study published in 2006. Surname Origin: German, Scottish, English, ... Switzerland (61st), Luxembourg (104th), Liechtenstein (132nd), China (193rd) and Vietnam (203rd). There are also few compound ones consisting of two words, such as Zhuge, Si Tu and Ouyang etc. The population of Huangs in China and Taiwan was estimated at more than 35 million in 2020; it was also the surname of more than 2 million overseas Chinese, 5.7 million Vietnamese (6%), and an estimated 1 million Koreans (The 2015 census of South … Zhong. Maybe a Jewish last name? You're bound to find the origin of your last name here! Especially during the Tang dynasty (AD 618–907), when Chinese cultural might was at its peak, neighbouring states wanted to get closer to China. In 2019 Sun was the twelfth most common surname in Mainland China. Surname Meanings and Origins. Each of the top 2 surnames which are Li and Wang even has more than 100 million population. Chinese surnames are central to people’s identities; they hold origin stories, reveal historic patterns of migration, and represent a direct tie to a person’s ancestry and heritage. Names are an important type of vocabulary. What's next? Pages in category "Surname appendices" The following 45 pages are in this category, out of 45 total. Top 100 Names … If you find a surname that isn't currently on the site then sign up and add it yourself, you can either add the meaning and origin yourself or we will do it for you. You’ll rarely meet a Chinese person with a surname not in this list of 100. C. Appendix:Chinese surnames; D. Appendix:Danish surnames; E. Appendix:English surnames (England and Wales) Appendix:English surnames (Scotland) Appendix:English surnames (United States) Appendix:English surnames (United States, 2010) Appendix:English surnames from Anglo-Norman; … What's in a name? WorldNames PublicProfiler indicates a similar … Garcia leapfrogged from number 18 to number eight, while Rodriguez went up from 22 to nine. The name may be of English occupational origin for a maker of china, a ceramic ware of a type originally from China, from the sixteenth Century word "chiny", itself from the Persian word "chini". The Vietnamese name Trần, Korean name Jin, and Japanese surname Chin all … & Chung, Voon-Li. Also new to the list is the Asian surname Lee—ranked at number 22 in the country—indicating a rise in the Asian American population. There's more to explore on Ancestry. Zhou Chinese last names are typically passed down from father to children, although they may not have started that way. 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