Chinese Surnames - What Are the Most Common Surnames and Origins?

As one of the oldest cultures in the world, China boasts a unique history, and this is most evident in the country's names. Chinese surnames, in particular, tell a fascinating story about the country's past and the people who inhabit it.

Unlike in Western culture where the last name is the surname, for Chinese names, the surname/family name comes first before the given name. This is because the surname used to be a way to trace someone's family history and identify one's social status.

In this blog post, we'll take a look at some of the most common Chinese surnames, as well as different surnames' origins.

Background

Chinese surnames or family names are believed to have originated from primitive religious worship, totem worship, and ancestor worship. It is thought that surnames first began in China over 5000 years ago and were used as symbols to distinguish clans. China is one of the first countries to have surnames, with over 5000 surnames today.

Unlike many Western countries, with a huge population, China has been relying on clans as the main economic and social interaction platform for thousands of years, which has helped to ensure the high stability and continuity of Chinese surnames.

Most Popular Surnames

The popularity of different surnames has changed over time.

According to the newest data from the seventh National Census done by the Chinese government in 2020, the most popular 30 surnames are as follows (rank surname by population):

Ranking	Surname	Pinyin	Ranking	Surname	Pinyin	Ranking	Surname	Pinyin
1	王	Wáng	11	徐	Xú	21	郑	Zhèng
2	李	Lǐ	12	孙	Sūn	22	梁	Liáng
3	张	Zhāng	13	马	Mǎ	23	谢	Xiè
4	刘	Liú	14	朱	Zhū	24	宋	Sòng
5	陈	Chén	15	胡	Hú	25	唐	Táng
6	杨	Yáng	16	郭	Guō	26	许	Xǔ
7	黄	Huáng	17	何	Hé	27	邓	Dèng
8	赵	Zhào	18	林	Lín	28	韩	Hán
9	吴	Wú	19	罗	Luó	29	冯	Féng
10	周	Zhōu	20	高	Gāo	30	曹	Cáo

It's interesting that even though there are thousands of surnames preserved and still in use today, if we look at the population shares, the top ten surnames make up about 42% of the total Chinese population (see the table below), and the top 100 surnames account for about 85% of the entire national population (over 1.4 billion people).

Especially for the first three surnames, 王, 李, and 张, all of them have populations of around 100 million, making up a total of 21% Chinese population. But after that, the population decreases rapidly when we move down the list.

Ranking	Surname	Pinyin	Population (million)	Percentage (%)
1	王	Wáng	101.83	7.21
2	李	Lǐ	101.39	7.18
3	张	Zhāng	95.75	6.78
4	刘	Liú	72.29	5.12
5	陈	Chén	63.71	4.51
6	杨	Yáng	46.32	3.28
7	黄	Huáng	33.94	2.40
8	赵	Zhào	28.67	2.03
9	吴	Wú	27.97	1.98
10	周	Zhōu	26.91	1.91

In fact, compared to many other countries or cultures, China has fewer surnames. For example, data sources show that there are over 5 million surnames in the United States, while the most common surnames, Smith, Johnson, and Williams, are only used by about 2 million people each, that is, about 0.6% of the total population.

So why does China have fewer surnames, but those common ones make up such a huge chunk of their entire population?

The reason may lie in the way how Chinese people pass down their surnames. The inheritance of surnames was traditionally passed down from fathers to their children, and many ancient surnames have disappeared since the girl's surname won't be inherited.

Some common surnames were royal family names. Typically, the longer the reign, the more popular their surname became. As they would have more kids that hold power and pass the name down. For example, 李 is the royal family name for the Tang dynasty, and as we can see from the data above, it is the second most common surname used today (sometimes the most popular one in the past).

Similarly, surnames from powerful families also tend to have more popularity.

In addition, people may adopt more popular surnames due to different reasons. For one, ethnic minorities may adopt Han surnames to assimilate into the Han culture. For another, some surnames were in fact given to people as a reward for their deeds of merit, often by the emperor. Some may also change their surnames to avoid troubles like the emperor's taboo or family enemies.

There are also surnames that initially originated from different sources and were combined into one over the long course of history. For example, both 王 and 张 gained their popularity due to this reason.

Compound Surnames

Most Chinese surnames and also the most commonly used ones are one-character surnames. However, there are surnames with more than one character, and they are called 复姓 (fù xìng, compound surnames).

Although the number of characters can vary for Chinese compound surnames, most commonly they come with two characters.

Below is a list of the top ten compound surnames in China.

Ranking	Surname	Pinyin	Population (thousand)
1	欧阳	Ōuyáng	1112
2	上官	Shàngguān	88
3	皇甫	Huángfǔ	64
4	令狐	Huángfǔ	55
5	诸葛	Zhūgé	48
6	司徒	Sītú	47
7	司马	Sīmǎ	23
8	申屠	Shēntú	19
9	夏侯	Xiàhóu	11
10	贺兰	Hèlán	10

As we can see, the popularity of these compound names is much lower than those one-character surnames shown above.

Origins

Chinese surnames have a long evolutionary history, and they have changed and been passed down for thousands of years. Each surname contains a unique origin, with a clear pathway to its development. Through the path, one can trace the roots of their surname and discover their distant ancestors.

Some of the common sources/origins for Chinese surnames are introduced below.

Clan Totem

As mentioned in the beginning, the earliest surnames originate from totem worship.

Primitive peoples believed that certain animals, plants, or objects could protect them and give them superhuman strength, so they took them as their ancestors or guardians. This symbol of kinship became known as the totem, which served to distinguish and unite families and blood relations.

Eventually, the totem evolved into the surnames of certain clans.

Numerous surnames today are the results of this kind of ancient totem worship, including the following:

马 (Mǎ) - horse

牛 (Niú) - cow

羊 (Yáng) - sheep

熊 (Xióng) - bear

龙 (Lóng) - dragon

山 (Shān) - mountain

水 (Shuǐ) - water

叶 (Yè) - leaf

Places

Many surnames came from places, including surnames from the country of fiefdom, from land given to the nobles, and from the place where people lived.

Some examples are:

齐 (Qí), 鲁 (Lǔ), 宋 (Sòng), 郑 (Zhèng), 吴 (Wú), 越 (Yuè), 秦 (Qín), 楚 (Chǔ), 韩 (Hán), 赵 (Zhào), 魏 (Wèi), 屈 (Qū), 西门 (Xīmén), 南宫 (Nángōng), 东方 (Dōngfāng)

Titles and Professions

In ancient China, many of the titles or positions were patrimonial, and the family kept these titles or positions as their name. For example:

上官 (Shàngguān), 钱 (Qián), 乐 (Yuè), 云 (Yún), 席 (Xí), 宰 (Zǎi), 师 (Shī), 司马 (Sīmǎ), 司徒 (Sītú), 公 (Gōng), 侯 (Hóu)

While surnames from titles and positions are typically for the nobles, for common people, they also often pass down their skills and professions to their descendants and become a symbol of their family as well we the family name.

Some examples are:

House builder - 筑 (Zhù)

Cobbler - 韦 (Wéi)

Smith - 冶 (Yě)

Watchmaker - 钟 (Zhōng)

Carpenter - 木 (Mù)

Ceramicist - 甄 (Zhēn)

Farmer - 农 (Nóng)

Weaver - 蒲 (Pú)

Obtained Surnames

Rewarded Surnames

Emperors sometimes reward meritorious subjects with the royal family name as a political means to praise and gain their loyalty.

For example, the Tang Dynasty gave the surname 李 (Lǐ) to people who made great contributions, and the Ming Dynasty gave the surname 朱 (Zhū).

This is thought to be one of the reasons why 李 became such a popular surname.

Changed Surnames

However, while emperors rewarded their surnames to people whom they deemed worthy, some people had to change their surnames which were the emperor's taboos to avoid trouble. Sometimes, the surname may happen to be part of the emperor's given name or characters that the emperor didn't like for various reasons.

For example, Emperor Wen of the Han's (汉文帝) name is 刘恒 (Liú Héng), and people with the surname 恒 had to change to surname 常 (Cháng) to avoid taboos. Similarly, Emperor Ming of the Han Dynasty's (汉明帝) name is 刘庄 (Liú Zhuāng), and people with the surname 庄 changed to 严 (Yán).

Generally, people would choose a character with a similar meaning to their original surname as the substitution.

As we mentioned above, ethnic minorities in China may change their surnames, either forced by the rulers or voluntarily for those who are assimilated into Han culture.

Some examples are:

拓跋 (Tàbá) to 元 (Yuán)

拔略 (Bálüè) to 苏 (Sū)

莫胡 (Mòhú) to 杨 (Yáng)

大汉 (Dàhàn) to 韩 (Hán)

佟佳 (Tunggiya hala) to 佟 (Tóng)

瓜尔佳 (Gūwalgiya hala) to 关 (Guān)

马佳 (Magiya hala) to 马 (Mǎ)

齐佳 (Cigiya hala) to 齐 (Qí)

钮钴禄 (Niohuru hala) to 朗 (Lǎng) and 钮 (Niǔ)

爱新觉罗 (Aisin Gioro, Manchu royal surname) to 金 (Jīn)

Chinese surnames are fascinating and are an important part of Chinese culture. They are steeped in history and provide a valuable window into the past. They provide insight into the history and regional differences of China, and they are an important part of Chinese identity. Whether they are derived from characters, locations, or their sound and meaning, these surnames serve as a reminder of the rich heritage of the country and its people.

With the increasing presence of Chinese immigrants across the world today, these surnames will continue to become more and more recognizable.

But what about given names? Are there also cultural factors to it? And what would be considered good and lucky names in Chinese? Let's take a look at how to choose a Chinese given name!