'Chén' () is one of the most common
Chinese family names. It ranks at the 5th most popular surname in
Mainland China and the most popular surname in
Singapore and
Taiwan. Chen is also the most common family name in
Guangdong,
Zhejiang,
Fujian (spelt Tan in Malaysia),
Hong Kong (spelt Chan in Hong Kong)and
Macau. It is usually romanised as 'Chan' in
Cantonese, and sometimes as 'Chun'. In
Min (including dialects of
Chaozhou (Teochow),
Hainan,
Fujian, and
Taiwan), the name is pronounced 'Tan'. In Hakka and Toisan, the name is spelt and pronounced as 'Chin'. Some other Romanisations include Zen and Ding.
In
Vietnam, this surname is written in
Quoc Ngu as 'Trần', and is the second most popular Vietnamese surname, accounting for 11% of the population,
[1] after the surname
Nguyễn (38.4%).
Chen is also a Hebrew name used by
Israelis. It is pronounced khen, and means grace or favour.
History
The initial
surname Chen was from Gui (), which was an ancient Chinese surname of
descendants of
Emperor Shun, who was one of the
Three August Ones and Five Emperors. When
King Wu of Zhou established the
Zhou Dynasty, he gave the Land of Chen to the descendants to establish their own
state. To show his
respect for Emperor Shun, the new state, which was also named by Chen, was one of the Three Guest States of Zhou (), which meant this nation was not the
subordinate, but the
guest of Zhou. However, the
Chen state was occupied by
Chu after the
10th century BC. Since then, the people of this state began to use Chen as their surname.
Other pronounciations
★ 'Chan', used in
Cantonese
★ 'Chin', used in
Hakka,
Taishan and
Japanese
★ 'Chun' or 'Jin', used in
Korean
★ 'Son', used in
Hainanese
★ 'Tan' (Tân), used in
Teochew in
Singapore,
Min Nan (including
Taiwanese)
★ 'Tang', used in
Teochew
★ 'Ting' or Ding, used in
Fuzhou
★ 'Trần', used in
Vietnamese
★ 'Zen', used in the
Shanghainese
Prominent people
★
Agnes Chan, Hong Kong singer, also famous in Japan
★
Anna Chan Chennault, first female reporter for the
Central News Agency
★
Eason Chan, Hong Kong actor and singer
★
Frankie Chan, proud nephew of Brian Leung
★
Jackie Chan, Hong Kong actor
★
Jordan Chan, Hong Kong actor and singer
★
Johnny Chan, poker player
★ Peter Chan, the only "Chan" listed on the Vietnam War Memoral. He served on the U.S. aircraft carrier USS Oriskany.
★
Priscilla Chan, Hong Kong singer
★
Peter P. Chen, a computer scientist, inventor of the Entity-Relationship Model
★ Rulers of the
Chen Dynasty
★
Bruce Hwang Chen, Taiwanese-American director
★
Cheer Chen, Taiwanese singer
★
Chen Duxiu, Communist Party of China founder
★
H. T. Chen, American dancer and choreographer
★
Chen Hong, Chinese badminton player
★
Jiebing Chen, erhu player
★
Geata Dareece Chan, proud ex-girl friend of Michael Laohoo
★
Chen Jingrun, mathematician
★
Joan Chen Chong, Chinese-American actress and film director
★
Joyce Chen, Chinese-American chef and restaurateur
★
Chen Kaige, Fifth Generation Chinese filmmaker
★
Kelly Chen Wai-Lam, Hong Kong actress and singer
★
Chen Kenichi, the only "Iron Chef
Chinese" in the syndicated TV program ''
Iron Chef''
★
Chen Kenmin, father of the above and a prominent Chinese chef in Japan
★
Chen Lu, Figure Ice Skater
★
Robert Chen, violinist,
Concertmaster of
Chicago Symphony Orchestra
★
Chen Shanshan, Chinese classical guitarist
★
Chen Shi-zheng, Chinese opera performer
★
Chen Shui-bian, first non-KMT
President of the Republic of China (Taiwan)
★
Sisy Chen, Taiwanese politician
★
Steve Chen, President and/or pride of
Lansdowne
★
Steve Chen, supercomputer designer
★
Steve Chen (YouTube), co-founder,
YouTube
★
Chen Tsyr-shiou, Chairman of
Taiwan Province
★
Tze-Chung Chen, Taiwanese professional golfer
★
Chen Yi,
Communist Party of China military commander
★
Chen Yi, composer
★
Chen Yi, Chief executive of
Taiwan Province
★
Chen Yu, Chinese badminton player
★
Chen Yuanyuan, concubine of
Wu Sangui
★
Chen Zhi, classical guitarist
★
Shiing-Shen Chern, mathematician
★
Arthur Chin, fighter ace
★
Ming W. Chin, Associate Justice of the California Supreme Court
★
Chin Peng, Long-time leader of now disbanded
Malayan Communist Party
★
Chin Siu Dek, aka Jimmy H. Woo, brought one of the
Chinese martial arts, Tsoi Li Ho Fut Hung, or Kung Fu
San Soo from Taishan to America, as
noted here
★
Tiffany Chin, figure skater
★
Vincent Chin, victim of racial crime
★
Tan Kah Kee, prominent businessman, community leader, and philanthropist in colonial Singapore and China.
★
Tony Tan Keng Yam, the former Deputy Prime Minister and Co-ordinating Minister for Security and Defence of Singapore
★
Tan Tjeng Bok,
Indonesian theatrical actor.
★ Chen Qingzhi, General of Emperor Wu of Liang, Northern and Southern Dynasty
★ Rulers of the
Tran Dynasty
★
Charles Tran Van Lam , Minister for Foreign Affairs for The Republic of Vietnam during the height of the Vietnam War. He was one of signers of the Paris Peace Accord in 1973. Foreign minister in 1969. In 1973 he became the president of the Senate of South Vietnam
★ David Tran, Vietnamese American hot sauce producer and founder of
Huy Fong Foods
★
Trần Đức Lương, President of
Vietnam
★
Trần Hiếu Ngân, the first Vietnamese athlete to win a medal at the Olympic Games
★
Trần Hưng Đạo, Vietnamese national hero
★
Jesse Tran, owner of JesseNeo.com
★ Trần Nghia, Vietnamese computer scientist
★ Tony Chen, KGV Student
Fictional characters with surname Chen
★
Charlie Chan, a
fictional detective
★
Chen is a
fictional character in the
British science fiction sitcom Red Dwarf
★
Chan Ho Nam, the fictitious
Hong Kong triad boss in the
Young and Dangerous series
★ Chen Jia Luo, Leader of the Red Lotus Sect from Chinese novel,
The Book and the Sword by
Jinyong
★ Simon Chen/Tan Peng Liang, a character in ''
Ca Bau Kan'', a roman by
Remy Sylado, an
Indonesian writer.
References
1. Họ và tên người Việt Nam của Lê Trung Hoa, Nhà xuất bản Khoa học - Xã hội, 2005
External links
★
Chinese surname history: Chen
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