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Chinese family name



         


A Chinese family name, also called a clan name or surname (姓, pinyin: xìng), is one of the over seven hundred family names used by Han Chinese and Sinicized Chinese ethnic groups. The term the hundred family names (百姓 bai xìng) is colloquially used in Chinese to mean people or commoners. Chinese family names are passed from the father, and there is generally a taboo against marriage between persons of the same surname. In cases of adoption, the adoptee also takes the same surname.

Although there are over 700 Chinese family names, the 20 most common names are used by the majority of Chinese. The reason for this is statistical—it is more likely that the father of a child will have a common family name than an uncommon name, so small differences are magnified over time. This effect is more pronounced among Chinese than European surnames because Chinese surnames have existed for a much longer time.

Within each surname there are Chinese clans, which are groups of people who share a given surname and come from the same ancestral village. In many cases, there will be several different clans with the same surname from the same ancestral village. Often these clans will have different generational names.

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. The surname of the Han emperors was Liu, and that of the Ming emperors was Zhu. 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. In addition, unlike European practice, the family of a deposed emperor would lose all power. Also as a consequence, many people also had the same surname as the emperor, but had no direct relation to the royal family.

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. Some variants include:

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.

Chinese women usually retain their maiden names after marriage, sometimes placing 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 (陳方安生) where Fong is her maiden name.

There are sometimes complex traditions associated with surnames. 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 certain surnames, 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.

Most commonly occurring Chinese family names have only one character; however, about twenty double-character family names have survived into the modern time. Some famous ones include Sima (司馬, simp. 司马), Zhuge (諸葛, simp. 诸葛), Au Yeung (歐陽, simp. 欧阳 Ouyang in pinyin, occasionally Anglicized, or rather, Irishized, as O'Young), and Szeto (in Cantonese) (司徒 in pinyin: Situ). There are family names with three or more characters, but those are extremely rare and most likely have non-Han origin, for example, Aixinjueluo (愛新覺羅, also romanized from the Manchu language as Aisin Gioro, which was the family name of the Manchu royal family of the Qing dynasty.

Popularity of family names has regional distributions. Some common Northern names are rare in the South. For example, the 55th most popular family name Xiao (肖) is almost unheard of in Hong Kong, as this "new" surname is "created" from oversimplifying the traditional surname "蕭" during the Cultural Revolution. Chan (陳, simp. 陈)is perhaps the most common last name in Hong Kong. Chen is a particularly common name in Taiwan. Whereas in Singapore 許 is the most common. On the other hand, the 47th most popular family name Fong (方) is a major name in the Chinatown of San Francisco, California, USA. 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.

Transliteration of Chinese family names (see Table 1 below) into English poses a number of problems. It is common for the same surname to be transliterated differently and for different family names with similar pronunciations to be transliterated identically.

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Common Chinese family names

Table 1: Top 70 Family Names in Mandarin, Cantonese and Minnan Transliterations
The "Other" columns are common transliterations, used before the formalization and popularization of existing Romanizations, still can be found in the names of some overseas Chinese. The last columns are some popular transliterations in other Chinese languages (dialects) used by some overseas Chinese whose ancestral mother tongue is neither Mandarin nor Cantonese nor Minnan.
The tone marks, though a part of the official Romanizations, are not used officially in passport or in overseas schools.
Char. Mandarin Cantonese Min Nan (Hokkien) Other dialects
T. S. Pinyin W-G¹ Other Jyutping Yale/py Other Pe̍h-oē-jī Other
1 王 王 Wáng Wang   Wong4 Wong Vong
(Portuguese spelling)		 Ông Ong  
2 陳 陈 Chén Ch'en (Chen) Chern Can4 Chan Chun Tân Tan Ding, Chin
3 李 李 Lǐ Li Lee Lei5 Lee   Lí Dee Ly (Vietnamese), Le
4 張 张 Zhāng Chang   Zoeng1  Cheung   Tiuⁿ Teo  
5 劉 刘 Liú Liu Liou Lau4 Lau   Lâu   Liew
6 楊 杨 Yáng Yang   Joeng4 Yeung   Iûⁿ Yeo  
7 黃 黄 Huáng Huang Hwang Wong4 Wong Vong
(Portuguese spelling)		 N̂g    
8 吳 吴 Wú Wu Woo Ng4 Ng   Gô• Goh  
9 林 林 Lín Lin   Lam4 Lam Lum Lîm    
10 周 周 Zhōu Chou Joe Zau1 Chow   Chiu    
11 葉 叶 Yè Yeh   Jip6 Yip Ip Ia̍p Yap  
12 趙 赵 Zhào Chao   Ziu6 Chiu Jiu Tiō   Chu
(Hawaiian spelling)
13 呂 吕 Lǚ Lü (Lu)   Leoi5 Lui   Lī/Lū Dy  
14 徐 徐 Xú Hsü (Hsu)   Ceoi4 Tsui   Chhî Chee  
15 孫 孙 Sūn Sun Suen Syun1 Sun / Suen   Sng/Sun    
16 朱 朱 Zhū Chu   Zyu1 Chu Chue Chu   Gee, Ju
17 高 高 Gāo Kao   Gou1 Ko Go Ko    
18 馬 马 Mǎ Ma   Maa5 Ma Mah Má    
19 梁 梁 Liáng Liang   Loeng4 Leung / Leong Lang Niû Neo  
20 郭 郭 Guō Kuo   Gwok3 Kwok   Koeh    
21 何 何 Hé Hê, Ho   Ho4 Ho   Hô    
22 鄭 郑 Zhèng Cheng Jehng Zeng6 Cheng   Tēⁿ/Tīⁿ Tay  
23 胡 胡 Hú Hu   Wu4 Wu Woo Ô•    
24 蔡 蔡 Cài Ts'ai (Tsai)   Coi3 Choi Choy Chhoà Chua  
25 曾 曾 Zēng Tseng Tzeng Cang4 Tsang   Chan    
26 佘 佘 Shē She   Se4 Sheh        
27 鄧 邓 Dèng Teng   Dang6 Tang Dung Tēng    
28 沈 沈 Shěn Shen   Sam2 Sum Shum Sím    
29 謝 谢 Xiè Hsieh Sheih Ze6 Tse   Chiā/Siā    
30 唐 唐 Táng T'ang (Tang)   Tong4 Tong   Tn̂g    
31 許 许 Xǔ Hsü (Hsu)   Heoi2 Hui   Khó• Koh  
32 羅 罗 Luó Lo   Lo4 Lo Law, Lowe Lô    
33 袁 袁 Yuán Yüan (Yuan)   Jyun4 Yuen   Oân    
34 馮 冯 Féng Feng Ferng Fung4 Fung / Fong        
35 宋 宋 Sòng Sung Soong Sung3 Shung (?)   Sòng    
36 蘇 苏 Sū Su   Sou1 So   So•    
37 曹 曹 Cáo Ts'ao (Tsao)   Cou4 Chô   Chô    
38 陸 陆 Lù Lu   Luk6 Luk (?)   Lio̍k    
39 麥 麦 Mài Mai   Maak6 Mak Muk Be̍h    
40 董 董 Dǒng Tung   Dung2 Tung   Táng    
41 于 于 Yú Yü (Yu)   Jyu1 or Jyu4 ? Yu   I/U    
42 韓 韩 Hán Han   Hon4 Han   Hân    
43 任 任 Rèn Jen   Jam4 or Jam6? Yam Yum Jîm    
44 蔣 蒋 Jiǎng Chiang Chung Zoeng2 Cheung Chiang Chiúⁿ Cheoh  
45 顧 顾 Gù Ku   Gu3 Gu Goo Kò•    
46 鍾 钟 Zhōng Chung   Zung1 Chung   Chiong    
47 方 方 Fāng Fang   Fong1 Fong   Png    
48 杜 杜 Dù Tu   Dou6 To / Do   Tō•    
49 丁 丁 Dīng Ting   Ding1 Ting Ding Teng    
50 姚 姚 Yáo Yao   Jiu4 Yao   Iâu    
51 潘 潘 Pān P'an (Pan)   Pun1 Poon   Phoaⁿ Phua  
52 姜 姜 Jiāng Chiang   Goeng1 Geung   Kiang/Kiuⁿ    
53 譚 谭 Tán T'an (Tan)   Taam4 Tam Tom Thâm   Hom
54 邱 邱 Qiū Ch'iu (Chiu) Chiou Jau1 Yau   Khu Khoo  
55 蕭 肖 Xiào Hsiao   Siu1 Siu   Siau    
56 金 金 Jīn Chin Kim Gam1 Kam Gum Kim    
57 賈 贾 Jiǎ Chia   Gaa2 Ga   Kà    
58 田 田 Tián T'ien (Tien)   Tin4 Tin   Tiân    
59 崔 崔 Cuī Ts'ui (Tsui) Tsuei Ceoi1 Cheui (?)   Chhui   Choi (Korean)
60 程 程 Chéng Ch'eng (Cheng)   Cing4 Ching   Thiâⁿ    
61 余 余 Yú Yü (Yu)         Î/Û    
62 魏 魏 Wèi Wei         Gūi    
63 薛 薛 Xuē Hsüeh (Hsueh)         Sih    
64 戴 戴 Dài Tai         Tè    
65 范 范 Fàn Fan         Hoān    
66 盧 卢 Lú Lu     Lo   Lô•    
67 洪 洪 Hóng Hung         Âng    
68 侯 侯 Hóu Hou         Hâu    
69 夏 夏 Xià Hsia         Hā    
70 白 白 Bái Pai         Pe̍h/Pe̍k    

¹ Unofficial versions of Wade-Giles transliterations, (with diacritics removed) appear in parentheses. Currently, Wade-Giles is used primarily to romanize Taiwanese names, and often appears (erroneously) without the diacritics.

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Reference for Table 1


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