Save Type Surname (from given name & from location) Usage Chinese Scripts 方(Chinese) Pronounced Pron. /faŋ/ [key·simplify] Meaning & History From Chinese 方 (fāng) referring to Fang Shu, a minister and adviser to King Xuan of the Western Zhou dynasty. Alternately it may have come from a place called Fang Shan (方山), which existed in what is now Henan province.