Chinese surnames are used by people of both Han Chinese extraction and Sinicized people living elsewhere in China and in regions such as Taiwan and certain parts of Korea and Vietnam in significant numbers.
There are thousands of Chinese surnames used today, but the great majority of these are not unique surnames. Instead, over 1.2 billion Chinese people worldwide share the same 100 Chinese surnames.
The Chinese surname Wang, for instance, is held by over 100 million people worldwide today.[1]
History of Chinese surnames and naming conventions
The first Chinese surnames began to emerge in eastern China around the start of the Zhou Dynasty Period around 1000 BCE. It is widely believed that these were first developed to indicate a line of matriarchal descent and were first used by royalty and nobles. Gradually the surname appeared in the lower orders of society from the Warring States Period and Qin Dynasty Period in the fourth and third centuries BCE onwards.
Over time different surnames appeared based on a number of different meanings. For instance, some Chinese surnames developed as a means of showing that an individual was descended from royalty or nobility. These are usually called Xing surnames and include names like Jiang, Ying and Si. Others might take a surname that was derived from a region they came from. Examples which are common today are Zhou and Wu. Still others might be used to signify that an individual had a particular occupation or was descended from somebody with a particular position. Hence Jí means ‘royal librarian’, Shǐ means ‘historian’ and Jiàn means ‘advisor’. Finally, Wang, one of the most common Chinese surnames, is actually the Chinese word for ‘king’ and denotes a royal descent.[2]
An important aspect of Chinese surnames is that the surname appears before the personal name in opposition to the common practice within most western countries. Thus, if one was meeting or addressing the Chinese head of state Xi Jinping they would address him formally as Chairman Xi or Mr Xi.[3]
Most popular Chinese surnames and their origins
Among the most popular Chinese surnames are:
- Wang – The Chinese word for ‘king’. Bearers of this name are generally descended in some tangential fashion from one of the ancient royal houses of China. One example is the House of Ji, the founders of the Zhou Dynasty which ruled China from 1046 BCE to 256 BCE.
- Li – One of the oldest Chinese surnames and one of the most common surname in China, accounting for approximately 100 million people. It is the fourth surname listed in the Hundred Family Surnames (Bai Jia Xing), a Song Dynasty (960 CE – 1279 CE) compilation of over 500 Chinese surnames.
- Zhang – Tens of millions of Chinese people bear this surname, which means something akin to ‘to open up’ or ‘widening bow’. In Chinese legend the name was originally bestowed on Hui, a grandson of the Yellow Emperor, a mythical quasi-religious ruler of China, who was said to have invented the bow and arrow.[4]
- Liu – The ancient Chinese character for Liu originally meant ‘kill’. This is the fourth most common in China today, being particularly common in Shandong and shared by over sixty-five million Chinese people.
- Chen – Chen, which is often Romanized as Chan, is the tenth name in the Hundred Family Surnames and today is one of the most common Chinese names in the world. It is found in particular abundance in provinces such as Guangdong and Zhejiang, as well as Taiwan and Singapore.
Geographical spread of Chinese surnames
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Chinese surnames are not evenly spread throughout the vast country which China is today. For instance, Wang is far more common in the north of the country where nearly 10% of people share this surname, with Li, Zhang and Liu being popular here also.
Conversely, Chen is the most widely held surname in southern China, accounting for slightly more than 10% of people, while Li is the most prolific name along the course of the Yangtze River. Often, for historical reasons to do with the ancient clan system and other factors, certain surnames are particularly common in specific provinces and regions. Hence, Mao and Shen appear regularly in Zhejiang province, while one will come across many He and Deng surnames in Sichuan. To the south in Guangdong Liang, Luo and Kwong are very popular.[5]
The erosion of Chinese surnames in the twentieth century
The twentieth century has seen a semi-erosion of traditional Chinese naming practices. This is owing to a wide range of cultural and political factors, notably the decline of belief in Confucianism and the breakdown of traditional Chinese imperial society, as well as the rise of Communism during the Chinese Civil War. There was a particular antipathy to more complicated forms of Chinese surnames being used based on traditional values during the Cultural Revolution of the late 1960s and early 1970s. Amongst Chinese overseas emigres there has also been something of a breakdown of traditional surname usage as many people adopted more western-style names to acclimatise better to the new environment. In some instances, immigration officials, unaware that Chinese surnames appear before personal names, incorrectly listed peoples’ surnames as their first names on passports and other official documents. These issues aside, the traditional basis of Chinese surname practices remains alive and well in the twenty-first century.[6]
Famous people with Chinese surnames
- Xi Jinping – The General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party and head of the People’s Republic of China since 2012. Xi is his surname, while ‘Jinping’ means something akin to ‘peace in the vicinity’.[7]
- Li Qingzhao – A twelfth-century Chinese poet and writer. She is considered one the greatest literary figures in Chinese history.[8]
- Mao Zedong – Chairman of the Chinese Communist Party and head of the People’s Republic of China from 1949 to 1976. His surname is Mao, while his personal name Zedong means something akin to ‘east of the marsh’.
- Jackie Chan – Jackie Chan is one of China’s most famous foreign exports and actors. However, Jackie Chan is a stage name; his birth name is Chan Kong-sang, Chan being his surname, while Kong-sang is equivalent to ‘Hong Kong born’ in acknowledgement that he was born on Victoria Peak overlooking the city of Hong Kong in 1954.[9]
Explore more about Chinese surnames
- Chinese Genealogy: An Introduction to Jiapu (Chinese Genealogy Records) at Legacy Family Tree Webinars
- Confucius: Ancient family tree at MyHeritage Blog
- Doing Things Differently: Chinese Naming Conventions at MyHeritage Blog
- The Name Game at MyHeritage Blog
References
- ↑ https://edition.cnn.com/2021/01/16/china/chinese-names-few-intl-hnk-dst/index.html
- ↑ https://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Chinese_surname
- ↑ https://taazakhabarnews.com/the-mystery-behind-chinese-names/
- ↑ https://www.mychinaroots.com/surnames/detail?word=%E5%BC%B5
- ↑ https://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Chinese_surname
- ↑ https://www.nytimes.com/1984/12/09/world/a-problem-for-the-chinese-millions-of-namesakes.html
- ↑ https://taazakhabarnews.com/the-mystery-behind-chinese-names/
- ↑ https://thechinaproject.com/2020/04/06/li-qingzhao-poet-the-most-talented-woman-in-history/
- ↑ https://screenrant.com/jackie-chan-america-movie-name/