Chinese Surnames

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Chinese names are used in China and in Chinese communities throughout the world. Note that depending on the Chinese characters used these names can have many other meanings besides those listed here. See also about Chinese names.
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BAI白Chinese
From Chinese 白 (bái) meaning "white".
CHAN陈Chinese (Cantonese)
Cantonese romanization of CHEN.
CHEN陈Chinese
From Chinese 陈 (chén) meaning "exhibit, display, old, ancient" and also referring to the former state of Chen, which existed in what is now Henan province from the 11th to 5th centuries BC.
CHEUNG张Chinese (Cantonese)
Cantonese romanization of ZHANG.
CHONG张Chinese (Cantonese)
Cantonese romanization of ZHANG.
CHOU周Chinese
Variant transcription of ZHOU.
CHOW周Chinese
Variant transcription of ZHOU.
CHU朱Chinese
Variant transcription of ZHU.
DU杜Chinese
From Chinese 杜 (dù) meaning "stop, prevent".
FAN范Chinese
From Chinese 范 (fàn) meaning "bee".
GUAN关Chinese
From Chinese 关 (guān) meaning "frontier pass".
GUO郭Chinese
From Chinese 郭 (guō) meaning "outer city".
HAN韩Chinese, Korean
From Chinese 韩 (hán) referring to the ancient state of Han, which existed from the 5th to 3rd centuries BC in what is now Shanxi and Henan provinces.
HOU侯Chinese
From Chinese 侯 (hóu) meaning "lord, nobleman".
HSU徐Chinese
Variant transcription of XU.
HU胡Chinese
From Chinese 胡 (hú) meaning "beard, whiskers, recklessly, wildly, barbarian".
HUANG黄Chinese
From Chinese 黄 (huáng) meaning "yellow".
JIANG (1)江Chinese
From Chinese 江 (jiāng) meaning "river, Yangtze".
JIANG (2)姜Chinese
From Chinese 姜 (jiāng) meaning "ginger".
JIN金Chinese
From Chinese 金 (jīn) meaning "gold".
KUANG邝Chinese
From Chinese 邝 (kuàng) which refers to the clan of the same name.
KWAN关Chinese (Cantonese)
Cantonese romanization of GUAN.
KWOK郭Chinese (Cantonese)
Cantonese romanization of GUO.
LAM林Chinese (Cantonese)
Cantonese romanization of LIN.
LAU刘Chinese (Cantonese)
Cantonese romanization of LIU.
LEE (2)李Korean, Chinese
Korean form of LI (1), from Sino-Korean 李 (i). It is also a variant Chinese romanization of LI (1).
LI (1)李Chinese
From Chinese 李 (lǐ) meaning "plum, plum tree". This was the surname of Chinese emperors of the Tang dynasty.
LI (2)黎Chinese
From Chinese 黎 (lí) meaning "black".
LIAO廖Chinese
From Chinese 廖 (liào) which refers to the ancient state of Liao, which was located in present-day Henan province.
LIM林Taiwanese
Min Nan romanization of LIN.
LIN林Chinese
From Chinese 林 (lín) meaning "forest".
LIU刘Chinese
From Chinese 刘 (liú) meaning "kill, destroy". This was the surname of Chinese emperors of the Han dynasty.
LU吕Chinese
From Chinese 吕 (lǚ) meaning "musical note" and also referring to the former state of Lu, which was situated in what is now Henan province.
MA马Chinese
From Chinese 马 (mǎ) meaning "horse".
MAH马Chinese
Variant transcription of MA.
MAN文Chinese (Cantonese)
Cantonese romanization of WEN.
NG吴Chinese (Cantonese)
Cantonese romanization of WU.
PAN (2)潘Chinese
From Chinese 潘 (pān) meaning "water in which rice has been rinsed", and also referring to a river that flows into the Han River.
RUAN阮Chinese
From Chinese 阮 (ruǎn) which refers to a type of musical instrument, similar to a lute.
SONG宋Chinese, Korean
From Chinese 宋 (sòng) referring to the Song dynasty, which ruled China from 960 to 1279.
SUN孙Chinese
From Chinese 孙 (sūn) meaning "grandchild, descendant". A famous bearer of the surname was Sun Tzu, the 6th-century BC author of 'The Art of War'.
SUNG宋Chinese
Variant transcription of SONG.
TAN陈Taiwanese
Min Nan romanization of CHEN.
TANG唐Chinese
From Chinese 唐 (táng) referring to the Tang dynasty, which ruled China from 618 to 907.
WANG (1)王Chinese
From Chinese 王 (wáng) meaning "king, monarch". This is the most common surname in China.
WEN文Chinese
From Chinese 文 (wén) meaning "literature, culture, writing".
WONG (1)王Chinese (Cantonese)
Cantonese romanization of WANG (1).
WONG (2)黄Chinese (Cantonese)
Cantonese romanization of HUANG.
WU吴Chinese
From Chinese 吴 (wú) which refers to the ancient state of Wu, which was located in present-day Jiangsu province.
XU徐Chinese
From Chinese 徐 (xú) meaning "slowly, calmly".
XUN荀Chinese
From Chinese 荀 (xún) meaning "plant, ancient state".
YANG杨Chinese
From Chinese 杨 (yáng) meaning "willow, poplar, aspen".
YEUNG杨Chinese (Cantonese)
Cantonese romanization of YANG.
YU (1)于Chinese
From Chinese 于 (yú) meaning "in, on, at". According to legend, King Wu of Zhou bestowed the realm of Yu to his second son, who subsequently adopted this as his surname.
YU (2)余Chinese
From Chinese 余 (yú) meaning "surplus".
YU (3)俞Chinese
From Chinese 俞 (yú) meaning "consent, approve".
YU (4)虞Chinese
From Chinese 虞 (yú) meaning "concerned, anxious" and also referring to the ancient state of Yu, which was situated in what is now Shanxi province.
YUEN阮Chinese (Cantonese)
Cantonese romanization of RUAN.
ZHANG张Chinese
From Chinese 张 (zhāng) meaning "stretch, extend". It may have denoted a bowmaker whose job it was to stretch bow wood.
ZHAO赵Chinese
From Chinese 赵 (zhào) which refers to an ancient city-state in what is now Shanxi province. According to legend, King Mu rewarded his chariot driver Zaofu with the city, at which time Zaofu adopted this surname. The later historic state of Zhao, which existed from the 5th to 3rd centuries BC, was named after this city.... [more]
ZHENG郑Chinese
From Chinese 郑 (zhèng) which refers to the ancient state of Zheng. Zheng existed between the 9th to 4th centuries BC in present-day Henan province. A famous bearer of this surname was the 15th-century explorer Zheng He.
ZHOU周Chinese
From Chinese 周 (zhōu) which refers to the Zhou dynasty, which held power from 1046 to 771 BC, continuing for a few more centuries as figureheads.
ZHU朱Chinese
From Chinese 朱 (zhū) "vermilion red, cinnabar" and also referring to the ancient state of Zhu, which existed in what is now Shandong province. This was the surname of the emperors of the Ming dynasty.
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