A 'Chinese surname', 'family name' () or 'clan name' (; pinyin: shì), is one of the hundreds or thousands of
family names that have been historically used by
Han Chinese and
Sinicized Chinese ethnic groups in
mainland China,
Taiwan, and among
overseas Chinese communities. The colloquial expressions ''lao bai xing'' (老百姓; lit. "old hundred surnames"), or ''bǎi xìng'' (, lit. "hundred surnames") are used in Chinese to mean "ordinary people", "the people," or "commoners." Bǎi jiā xìng () is also used to call the list of one hundred most common surnames.
Chinese family names are
patrilineal, passed from father to children. (In cases of adoption, the adoptee usually also takes the same surname.) Chinese women, after marriage, typically retain their birth surname. Historically, however, only Chinese men possessed xìng (family name), in addition to shì; the women had only the latter, and took on their husband's xìng after marriage.
Origin of surnames
Prior to the
Warring States Period (5th century BC), only the royal family and the aristocratic elite could generally take surnames. Historically there was also difference between '''xing''' and '''shi'''. '''Xing''' were surnames held by the immediate royal family. They generally are composed of a nü (女, meaning "female") radical which suggests that they originated from
matriarchal societies based on maternal lineages. Another hypothesis has been proposed by sinologist Léon Vandermeersch upon observation of the evolution of characters in oracular scripture from the
Shang dynasty through the
Zhou. The "female" radical seems to appear at the Zhou period next to Shang
sinograms indicating an ethnic group or a tribe. This combination seems to designate specifically a female and could mean "lady of such or such clan". The structure of the ''xing'' sinogram could reflect the fact that in the royal court of Zhou, at least in the beginning, only females (wives married into the Zhou family from other clans) were called by their birth clan name, while the men were usually designated by their title or fief.
Prior to the
Qin Dynasty (3rd century BC) China was largely a
feudal society. As fiefdoms were divided and subdivided among descendants, so additional sub-surnames known as '''shi''' were created to distinguish between different seniority of lineages among the nobles though in theory they shared the same ancestor. In this way, a nobleman would hold a ''shi'' and a ''xing''. After the states of China were unified by
Qin Shi Huang in
221 BC, surnames gradually devolved to the lower classes and the difference between ''xing'' and ''shi'' blurred.
''Shi'' surnames, many of which survive to the present day, generally share twelve paths of origin:
# From ''xing'': These were usually reserved for the central lineage of the royal family, with collateral lineages taking their own ''shi''. Of the six or so common ''xing'', only
Jiang (姜) and
Yao (姚) have survived as frequently occurring surnames.
# From royal decree by the Emperor, such as
Kwong (鄺).
# From state names: Many commoners took the name of their state, either to show their continuing allegiance or as a matter of national and ethnic identity. Common examples include
Song (宋),
Wu (吴/吳),
Chen (陈/陳). Not surprisingly, due to the population size of the peasantry, these are some of the most common Chinese surnames.
# From the name of fiefs or place of origin. Fiefdoms were often granted to collateral branches of the aristocracy and it was natural as part of the process of sub-surnaming for their names to be used. An example is Di, Marquis of Ouyangting, whose descendants took the surname
Ouyang. There are some two hundred examples of this identified, often of two-character surnames, but few have survived to the present.
# From the names of ancestors: Like the previous example, this was also a common origin with close to 500 or 600 examples, 200 of which are two-character surnames. Often an ancestor's
style name would be used. For example,
Yuan Taotu took the second character of his grandfather's style name Boyuan (伯爰) as his surname. Sometimes titles granted to ancestors could also be taken as surnames.
# From seniority within the family: In ancient usage, the characters of ''meng'' (孟), ''zhong'' (仲), ''shu'' (叔) and ''ji'' (季) were used to denote the first, second, third and fouth eldest sons in a family. These were sometimes adopted as surnames. Of these,
Meng is the best known, being the surname of philosopher
Mencius, for example.
# From occupation: These could arise from both official positions, as in the case of
Sima (司马/司馬), originally akin to "Minister of War". They could also arise from more lowly occupations, as with
Tao (陶), meaning "potter" or
Wu (巫), meaning "shaman".
# From ethnic groups: Non-Chinese peoples in China sometimes took the name of their ethnic group as surname. The best example is
Hu (胡), which originally referred to all "barbarian" groups on the northern frontier of China.
Distribution of surnames
Surnames are not evenly distributed throughout China's geography. In northern China, Wang (王) is the most common surname, being shared by 9.9% of the population. Next are Li (李), Zhang (张/張) and Liu (刘/劉). In the south, Chen (陈/陳) is the most common, being shared by 10.6% of the population. Next are Li (李), Huang (黄), Lin (林) and Zhang (张/張). Around the major crossing points of the
Yangtze River, the most common surname is Li (李), taking up 7.7%, followed by Wang (王), Zhang (张/張), Chen (陈/陳) and Liu (刘/劉).
A 1987 study showed over 450 family names in common use in
Beijing, but there were less than 300 family names in Fujian.
[1]
A study by
geneticist Yuan Yida has found that of all the people with a particular surname, there tends to be a population concentration in a certain province, as tabled to the right. It does not show, however, the most common surnames in any one province.
The 55th most common family name "Xiao" () appears to be very rare in
Hong Kong. This is explained by the fact Hong Kong uses
traditional Chinese characters not
simplified Chinese characters. Originally, the surname 蕭 (Xiao) was rather common while the surname 肖 (Xiao) was extremely rare, if not non-existent (it is mentioned only sporadically in historical texts). The first round of simplification in 1956 simplified 蕭 into 萧, keeping 蕭/萧 and 肖 distinct. However the
second-round in 1977, which has long been abolished, merged 萧 and 肖 into 肖. Despite the retraction of the second round, some people have kept 肖 as their surname, so that there are now two separate surnames, 萧 and 肖.
''Chén'' (trad , simp ) is perhaps the most common surname in
Hong Kong and
Macau (romanized as Chan) and is also common in
Taiwan (romanized as Chen). Fang (), which is only the 47th most common overall, is much more common in
San Francisco's Chinatown in the
United States (more often romanized as Fong based on the Cantonese dialect). As with the concentration of family names, this can also be explained statistically, as a person with an uncommon name could move to an unsettled area and leave this family name to large numbers of people.
After the Song Dynasty, surname distributions in China largely stabilised. The
Kwong family for example, stabilized in Guangdong during the revolts of the Song Dynasty and migrated from the capital in the north. Villages were often made up of individuals with the same surname, often with a common male ancestor. They usually intermarried with nearby villages, creating clusters of individuals with similar genetic background.
Surnames at present
Of the thousands of surnames which have been identified from historical texts prior to the
Han Dynasty, most have either been lost or simplified. In recent centuries some two-character surnames have often dropped a character. Since the founding of the
People's Republic of China, moreover, some surnames have been graphically simplified.
Although there are thousands of Chinese family names, the 100 most common surnames, which together make up less than 5% of those in existence, are shared by 85% of the population. The three most common surnames in Mainland China are
Li,
Wang and
Zhang, which make up 7.9%, 7.4% and 7.1% respectively. Together they number close to 300 million and are easily the most common surnames in the world.
In a 1990 study, the top 200 family names accounted for over 96% of a random sample of 174,900 persons, with over 500 other names accounting for the remaining 4%.
[2] In a different study (1987), which combined data from Taiwan and mainland China (sample size of 570,000 persons), the top 19 names covered 55.6%
[3], and the top 100 names covered 87% of the sample. Other data suggest that the top 50 names comprise 70% of the population.
[4]
Most commonly occurring Chinese family names have only one character; however, about twenty
double-character family names have survived into the modern time. These include
Sima (, simp. ),
Zhuge (, simp. ),
Ouyang (, simp. , occasionally romanized as ''O'Young'', giving some Anglophones an
Irish impression), and
Situ (or Sito ). There are family names with three or more characters, but those are not ethnically Han Chinese. For example, Aixinjueluo (, also romanized from the Manchu language as
Aisin Gioro), was the family name of the
Manchu royal family of the
Qing dynasty.
Transliteration of Chinese family names (see
List of common Chinese surnames) into foreign languages poses a number of problems. Chinese surnames are shared by people speaking a number of dialects and languages which often have different pronunciations of their surnames. The
Chinese diaspora into all parts of the world resulted in the
Romanization of the surnames based on different languages. As a result, it is common for the same surname to be transliterated differently. In certain dialects, different surnames could be
homonyms so it is common for family names to appear ambiguous when transliterated. Example: 鄭/郑 (pinyin:Zheng) can be romanised into Chang, Cheng, Chung, Teh, Tay, Tee, Zeng or Zheng, (in
pinyin, Chang, Cheng, Zheng and Zeng are all different names).
Examples of variations in romanisation
Due to the different pronunciation and romanisations, it is generally able to tell whether a Chinese person has origins in mainland China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, or Southeast Asia including
Singapore,
Malaysia and
Indonesia. In general people from mainland China, and the younger generation from Singapore will have surnames in
pinyin. Those from Taiwan in
Wade-Giles romanisation. People from Southeast Asia and Hong Kong usually base their romanisation on
Min,
Hakka and
Cantonese dialects.
There are also people who use non-standard romanisations, eg the Hong Kong
media mogul 邵逸夫
Run Run Shaw's surname 邵 is spelt as Shaw, pinyin: Shao. The use of different systems of romanisation based on different Chinese language variants during the 1900~1970 also contributed to the variations.
Eg.
Written form
| Pinyin
| Wade-Giles
| Min (Hokkien) (Malaysia/Singapore)
| Cantonese (Hong Kong)
| English meaning
|
|---|
| 陈/陳 | Chen | Ch'en | Tan | Chan |
arrange; exhibit; narrate; tell; old; stale; to state; to display; to explain |
| 关/ 關 | Guan | Kuan | | Kwan |
mountain pass; to close; to shut; to turn off; to concern; to involve |
| 何 | He | Ho | Ho/Hoe | Ho | carry; what; how; why; which |
| 黃 | Huang | Huang | Oei/Wee/Ng | Wong | sulfur; yellow |
| 简/ 簡 | Jian | Chien | | Kan/Gan | simple |
| 金 | Jin | Chin | Kim | Kam | gold |
| 林 | Lin | Lin | Lim | Lam | woods; forest |
| 王 | Wang | Wang | Ong | Wong | king |
| 吴/ 吳 | Wu | Wu | Wu/ Ng/ Gouw/ Goh | Ng | Wu |
| 许/ 許 | Xu | Hsü | Koh | Hui | to allow; to permit; to praise |
| 张/ 張 | Zhang | Chang | Teo/Chong | Cheung | a measured word; open up |
| 赵/ 趙 | Zhao | Chao | Chew | Chiu |
|
Malaysia/Singapore/Indonesia: some people use Pinyin or other spellings depends on their origin.
Please refer to the
List of common Chinese surnames for the different spellings and more examples.
Usage
In writing
Chinese names, Chinese family names are placed before the given name, e.g.
Cheung Kwok Wing. Hence the Western concept of first name and last name only creates confusion when used with Chinese names. In Westernized Asian countries or for those residing in the West, often a Western name is chosen, e.g.
Leslie Cheung (張國榮). When the Western name and Chinese name are put together, it often becomes hard to tell what the family name is. Using Leslie Cheung as an example, some variants include:
★ Zhāng Guóróng — China, transcription using official
Hanyu pinyin system, which
romanizes Mandarin pronunciation of Chinese characters and adds
suprasegmental tone markers.
★ Cheung Kwok-wing — China (Cantonese-speaking), romanization of
Cantonese pronunciation of Chinese characters.
★ Leslie Cheung Kwok-wing — Hong Kong, hybrid of Western/Chinese.
★ Leslie Kwok-wing Cheung — United States among others, use the Chinese given name 'Kwok-wing' as
middle name.
Some publications and legal documents will print the family name in small capital letters to allow it to be easily distinguished, e.g. Leslie
Cheung Kwok Wing. When no official romanisation exists, translators often will use the transliteration best fit with the locale where the person is originated. For example, the pinyin transcription would be used for a person from Mainland China;
Wade-Giles for someone from Taiwan; or a Cantonese-based romanisation for someone from Hong Kong.
Chinese women usually retain their maiden names after marriage. Outside of
Mainland China they will sometimes place their husbands' family names in front of theirs. For example, former Chief Secretary for Administration of Hong Kong, Mrs.
Anson Chan is known as
Chan Fang On-sang () where Fang is her maiden name. It is thus, technically possible for a married woman to have a six-character full name if both she and her husband have compounded surnames such as in this hypothetical example: 歐陽司徒美英 or Mrs. Au-Yeung Szeto Mei-ying. Most Hong Kong women retain their own surnames after marriage or choose to be known as Mrs. (husband's surname).
The sociological use of surnames
Throughout most of Chinese history, surnames have served sociological functions. Because of their association with the aristocratic elite in their early developments, surnames were often used as symbols of nobility. Thus nobles would use their surnames to be able to trace their ancestry and compete for seniority in terms of hereditary rank. Examples of early
genealogies among the royalty can be found in
Sima Qian's ''
Historical Records'', which contain tables recording the descent lines of noble houses called ''shibiao'' ().
Later, during the Han Dynasty, these tables were used by prominent families to glorify themselves and sometimes even to legitimise their political power. For example,
Cao Pi, who forced the abdication of the last Han emperor in his favour, claimed descent from the
Yellow Emperor. Chinese emperors sometimes passed their own surnames to subjects as honours. Unlike European practice in which some surnames are obviously noble, Chinese emperors and members of the royal family had regular surnames except in cases where they came from non-Han ethnic groups. This was a result of Chinese imperial theory in which a commoner could receive the
Mandate of Heaven and become emperor. Upon becoming emperor, the emperor would retain his original surname. Also as a consequence, many people also had the same surname as the emperor, but had no direct relation to the royal family.
The Tang Dynasty was the last period when the great aristocratic families, mostly descended from the nobility of pre-Qin states, held significant centralised and regional power. The surname was used as a source of prestige and common allegiance. During the period a large number of genealogical records called ''pudie'' () were compiled to trace the complex descent lines of clans and their marriage ties to other clans. A large number of these were collected by
Ouyang Xiu in his ''New History of Tang''.
During the Song Dynasty, ordinary clans began to organise themselves into corporate units and produce genealogies. This trend was led by the poet
Su Shi and his father. As competition for resources and positions in the bureaucracy intensified, individuals used their common ancestry and surname to promote solidarity. They established schools to educate their sons and held common lands to aid disadvantaged families. Ancestral temples were also erected to promote surname identity. Clan cohesion was usually encouraged by successive imperial governments since it aided in social stability. During the Qing Dynasty surname associations often undertook extra-judicial roles, providing primitive legal and social security functions. They played important roles in the Chinese diaspora to
South-East Asia and elsewhere, providing the infrastructure for the establishment of trading networks. In southern China, however, clans sometimes engaged in armed conflict in competition for land. Of course, clans continued the tradition of tracing their ancestry to the distant past as a matter of prestige. Most of these origin myths, though well established, are spurious.
As a result of the importance of surnames, rules and traditions regarding family and marriage grew increasingly complex. For example, in Taiwan, there is a clan with the so-called "double Liao" surname. The story is that the founder of the clan was adopted and so took the surname Liao, but in honor of his ancestors, he demanded that he be buried with the surname Chen. As a result, his descendants use the surname Liao while alive and the surname Chen after death. In some places, there are additional taboos against marriage between people of the same surname, considered to be closely related. Conversely, in some areas, there are different clans with the same surname which are not considered to be related, but even in these cases surname
exogamy is generally practiced.
Surname identity and solidarity has declined markedly since the 1930s with the decline of
Confucianism and later, the rise of
Communism in Mainland China. During the
Cultural Revolution, surname culture was actively persecuted by the government with the destruction of ancestral temples and genealogies. Moreover, the influx of Western culture and forces of
globalisation have also contributed to erode the previous sociological uses of the Chinese surname.
See also
★
Chinese clan
★
Chinese compound surname
★
Chinese given name
★
Generation name
★
List of common Chinese surnames
★
Hundred Family Surnames
★
Japanese name
★
Korean name
★
Vietnamese name
External links
★
Top 19 surnames, and estimated population, with chart
★
List of Chinese surnames
★
Chinese Surnames (Simplified), with sound
★
Chinese-sounding surnames in the 1990 US census
★
《百家姓》 ''The Hundred Families' Surnames'' with literal meanings of the surnames.
★
Chinese Huang Clan
★
Chinese family name information from the US National Archives
★
Get a Chinese name
★
Email with a Chinese name
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