Save Type Surname (from location) Usage Chinese, Korean Scripts 康(Chinese, Korean Hanja) 강(Korean Hangul) Pronounced Pron. /kʰɑŋ/(Chinese) /kaŋ/(Korean) [key·simplify] Meaning & History From Chinese 康 (kāng), derived from Kangju (康居), the Chinese name for an ancient kingdom in Central Asia (now known as Sogdiana). It may also refer to the city of Samarkand in present-day Uzbekistan, which was called 康 in Chinese.