How Many Surnames in China?

According to the records of the One Hundred Family Names (a book about the Chinese surnames which was written in the early years of the Northern Song Dynasty), there are 408 monosyllabic surnames and 30 hyphenated surnames in China. But by today’s statistics and other ancient documents there more than 5600 in China! In addition, some ethnic groups have names but have no surnames, for instance the Dai people.

Ten Common Used Surnames

According to the national census, the ten common used Chinese family names are Li, Wang, Zhang, Liu, Chen, Yang, Zhao, Huang, Wu and Zhou.

How to Address Chinese People

It is customary to address Chinese by their given name, using the title Miss, Mrs., or Mr. until persons become good friends and know other’s nicknames. There are a large range of official titles and formal address forms in daily use, especially occupation-linked titles such as doctor, professor, and mayor. Younger members address elder members according to their formal role within families such as elder brother, cousin, sister-in-law and so forth.

How Chinese Address Each Other

Mostly, Chinese address each other by their names. Take a girl whose full name is Li Hui Lan. People address her Li Hui Lan, Hui Lan, A Lan, or Xiao Lan, even some (those who are elder than she or of the same age) may call her Xiao Li. If a man whose full name is Huang Yue Po, people address his full name or Yue Po, or Lao Huang(usually those who are younger than he or of the same age), or Xiao Huang (usually those who are elder than he or of the same age). Interestingly, if the man with a pockmarked face, some people may not address his full name Huang Yue Po, they might nickname him Huang Ma Zi (Yellow Pockmarks). But this is considered impolite.

Some Interesting Chinese Formal Names

If you can read Chinese and have lived in China for some years you may find some interesting Chinese names. Take some examples: “Chen Bai Wan”, this is a man’s name. “Chen” is his family name. “Bai Wan” means “millionaire” in Chinese; “Wang Da Fa” is another man’s name. “Da Fa” in his name indicates “making a big fortune”. From the two men’s names you can see their parents have based great hopes on the sons; “Wu You Mu”, “You Mu” in the name means “have wood”. The man may lack “wood” in his fate. According to “the five elements” in ancient Chinese philosophy, any one of the five (metal, wood, water, fire and earth) are indispensable for a person’s fate, or s/he will meet disaster; “Li Wei Dong”, “Yi Wei Hong”, and “Zheng Wen Ge”, all these names with very markedly characteristics of the times. The first one “Wei Dong” in the name means “defending Mao Zhe Dong”; the second “Wei Hong” means “defending the red political power”; the last “Wen Ge” means “cultural revolution”, from the names you can see that the three persons were born during 1966-1976; “Ning Zhao Di”, this is a girl’s name. She may be the first one child of the family or her parents have given birth to several girls before her, they want a boy after her so they name her “Wanting Brother”, this is considered a good wish; “Zhao Lai Fu”, “Lai Fu” in the name denotes “happiness coming”; “Qian Wang Cai”, “Wang Cai” means “prosperous and wealthy”, “Sun Guo Qing”, “Guo Qing” means “National Day”, so long as you meet a man whose name is “Guo Qing” you can draw the conclusion without question that his birthday is October first (the National Day of China). In addition, some Chinese parents name their children according to the 12 zodiacal animals. For instance, Song Sha Sha (***the site cannot read Chinese charcters, please click the url under this article to see the name), a girl’s name. The radicals “*”and “*” in the character “*” stand for grass and water in Chinese respectively. So you can make out the girl’s animal signs are ox, horse or sheep.

Some Funny Chinese Pet Names

Some pet names are also very interesting. If you have the opportunity to pay a visit to some Chinese rural areas you will discover some. For instance: “Tie Dan” literally “iron egg”; “Lao Da” (the oldest child), “Lao Er” (the second oldest child), “Lao San” (the third oldest child), “Lao Si” (the fourth oldest child); “Gou Sheng” literally “dog has as remainder”. In the rural Chinese areas, dog is considered having strong vitality. And because the boy is the last son of the parents, they hope he can grow adult. In the remote villages, some uneducated fond parents may give pet name their children “Da Gou” (the first dog); “Er Gou” (the second dog); “San Gou” (the third dog); “Si Gou” (the fourth dog)… by parity of reasoning.