China has ±1,4 billion citizens by the year 2022. From that number of citizens, China’s government also conducts censuses routinely from their surnames.
Initially, there are 484 surnames, which consist of 408 single surnames 单姓 (Dānxìng; surnames with a single Chinese character) and 76 double surnames 复姓 (Fùxìng; surnames with double Chinese character), for example : 诸葛 (Zhuge), 上官 (Shangguan), 欧阳 (Ouyang), and etc.
According to Dictionary of Chinese Surnames (中华姓氏大辞典; Zhonghua Xingshi Da Cidian), the number of surnames that have been recorded in history is about ±11.969 surnames, which is danxing (single surnames) counted 5.327, and fuxing (double surnames), counted ±4.329 surname.
There are also other surnames that counted for about 2.313 surnames. From 11.969 surnames, there are only about 300 surnames left that are still being used in this modern era. The other surnames have been rarely used.
The following is a reference source for the list of Chinese surnames used :
1. PDF : kerbykuek.com
2. Article : new-chinese.org
3. Article : lowchensaustralia.com
4. Article : limantorobert.blogspot.com
Also read : Do You Want a Chinese Name? Check out These 4 Ways to Give Chinese Names!
“名不正则言不顺, 言不顺则事不成.” (Míng bù zhèngzé yán bù shùn, yán bù shùn zé shì bùchéng)
The chinese old proverb above expressed by Confucius (551-479 BC) a scholar in ancient China. The proverb’s meaning is “When someone’s name is inappropriate, then the saying of that person is unacceptable. If a person’s saying is not accepted, then that person cannot achieve anything.”
The proverb above tells us how important a name is. A name is the most basic part of someone’s identity.
List of Chinese Surnames in World
This is a list of surnames used by Chinese mainland citizens, based on the census in 2010, from the most used surnames to the lowest used surnames, including:
1. Readers need to look carefully at the Chinese characters (Hanzi) listed below, because some of them are still using traditional characters (it has been completed as of September 1, 2020, where each character is equipped with a simplified characters).
The Pinyin spelling used is standard in MANDARIN; instead of using regional spellings, such as Hokkien, Cantonese, Hakka/Khek, Teochew, Hainan, etc.
2. Some sources of information list different orders and percentages (%); generally caused by differences in the year of census data, and the number of Chinese citizens who have migrated or moved abroad, or overseas citizens who have returned to China.
Some sources may include census data from Taiwan, because they consider Taiwan to be part of China’s territory (their 23rd province). Taiwan itself is only recognized by about 20 countries in the world as a sovereign country. The rest consider Taiwan to be stateless*.
Also read : List of Chinese Zodiac Signs, Dates and Elements
1. 李 (Li) 7,94%
2. 王 (Wang) 7,41%
3. 張 (Zhang; simplified 张) 7,07%
4. 劉 (Liu; simplified 刘) 5,38%
5. 陳 (Chen; simplified 陈) 4,53%
6. 楊 (Yang; simplified 杨) 3,08%
7. 趙 (Zhao; simplified 赵) 2,29%
8. 黃 (Huang) 2,23%
9. 周 (Zhou) 2,12%
10. 吳 (Wu) 2,05%
11. 徐 (Xu)
12. 孫 (Sun; simplified 孙)
13. 胡 (Hu)
14. 朱 (Zhu)
15. 高 (Gao)
16. 林 (Lin)
17. 何 (He)
18. 郭 (Guo)
19. 馬 (Ma; simplified 马)
20. 羅 (Luo; simplified 罗)
From these 20 Chinese surnames, the number is more than half of China’s population! (± 800 mil people out of 1.4 bil people)
21. 梁 (Liang)
22. 宋 (Song)
23. 鄭 (Zheng; simplified 郑)
24. 謝 (Xie; simplified 谢)
25. 韓 (Han; simplified 韩)
26. 唐 (Tang)
27. 馮 (Feng; simplified 冯)
28. 於 (Yu; simplified 于)
29. 董 (Dong)
30. 蕭 (Xiao; simplified 萧)
31. 程 (Cheng)
32. 曹 (Cao)
33. 袁 (Yuan)
34. 鄧 (Deng; simplified 邓)
35. 許 (Xu; simplified 许)
36. 傅 (Fu)
37. 沈 (Chen; simplified 沉)
38. 曾 (Ceng)
39. 彭 (Peng)
40. 呂 (Lu)
41. 蘇 (Su; simplified 苏)
42. 盧 (Lu; simplified 卢)
43. 蔣 (Jiang)
44. 蔡 (Cai)
45. 賈 (Jia; simplified 贾)
46. 丁 (Ding)
47. 魏 (Wei)
48. 薛 (Xue)
49. 葉 (Ye; simplified 叶)
50. 閻 (Yan; simplified 阎)
51. 餘 (Yu; simplified 余)
52. 潘 (Pan)
53. 杜 (Du)
54. 戴 (Dai)
55. 夏 (Xia)
56. 鐘 (Zhong; simplified 钟)
57. 汪 (Wang)
58. 田 (Tian)
59. 任 (Ren)
60. 姜 (Jiang)
61. 範 (Fan; simplified 范)
62. 方 (Fang)
63. 石 (Shi)
64. 姚 (Yao)
65. 譚 (Tan; simplified 谭)
66. 廖 (Liao)
67. 鄒 (Zou; simplified 邹)
68. 熊 (Xiong)
69. 金 (Jin)
70. 陸 (Lu; simplified 陆)
71. 郝 (Hao)
72. 孔 (Kong)
73. 白(Bai)
74. 崔 (Cui)
75. 康 (Kang)
76. 毛 (Mao)
77. 邱 (Qiu)
78. 秦 (Qin)
79. 江 (Jiang)
80. 史 (Shi)
81. 顧 (Gu; simplified 顾)
82. 侯 (Hou)
83. 邵 (Shao)
84. 孟 (Meng)
85. 龍 (Long; simplified 龙)
86. 萬 (Wan; simplified 龙)
87. 段 (Duan)
88. 漕 (Cao)
89. 錢 (Qian; simplified 钱)
90. 湯 (Tang)
91. 尹 (Yin)
92. 黎 (Li)
93. 易 (Yi)
94. 常 (Chang)
95. 武 (Wu)
96. 喬 (Qiao; simplified 乔)
97. 賀 (He; simplified 贺)
98. 賴 (Lai; simplified 赖)
99. 龔 (Gong; simplified 龚)
100. 文 (Wen)
101. 龐 (Pang; simplified 庞)
102. 樊 (Fan)
103. 蘭 (Lan; simplified 兰)
104. 殷 (Yin)
105. 施 (Shi)
106. 陶 (Tao)
107. 洪 (Hong)
108. 翟 (Di)
109. 安 (An)
110. 顏 (Yan)
111. 倪 (Ni)
112. 嚴 (Yan; simplified 严)
113. 牛 (Niu)
114. 溫 (Wen; simplified 温)
115. 蘆 (Lu; simplified 芦)
116. 季 (Ji)
117. 俞 (Yu)
118. 章 (Zhang)
119. 魯 (Lu)
120. 葛 (Ge)
121. 伍 (Wu)
122. 韋 (Wei; simplified 韦)
123. 申 (Shen)
124. 尤 (You)
125. 畢 (Bi; simplified 毕)
126. 聶 (Nie; simplified 聂)
127. 叢 (Cong; simplified 丛)
128. 焦 (Jiao)
129. 向 (Xiang)
130. 柳 (Liu)
131. 邢 (Xing)
132. 路 (Lu)
133. 岳 (Yue)
134. 齊 (Qi; simplified 齐)
135. 沿 (Yan)
136. 梅 (Mei)
137. 莫 (Mo)
138. 莊 (Zhuang; simplified 庄)
139. 辛 (Xin)
140. 管 (Guan)
141. 祝 (Zhu)
142. 左 (Zuo)
143. 塗 (Tu; simplified 涂)
144. 谷 (Gu)
145. 祁 (Qi)
146. 時 (Shi; simplified 时)
147. 舒 (Shu)
148. 耿 (Geng)
149. 牟 (Mou)
150.卜 (Bo)
Also read : What Are the Five Elements in Fengshui (Wuxing)?
151. 路 (Lu)
152. 詹 (Zhan)
153. 關 (Guan; simplified 关)
154. 苗 (Miao)
155. 凌 (Ling)
156. 費 (Fei; simplified 费)
157. 紀 (Ji)
158. 靳 (Jin)
159. 盛 (Sheng)
160. 童 (Tong)
161. 歐 (Ou; simplified 欧)
162. 甄 (Zhen)
163. 項 (Xiang; simplified 项)
164. 曲 (Qu)
165. 成 (Cheng)
166. 遊 (You; simplified 游)
167. 陽 (Yang; simplified 阳)
168. 裴 (Pei)
169. 席 (Xi)
170. 衛 (Wei; simplified 卫)
171. 查 (Cha)
172. 屈 (Qu)
173. 鮑 (Bao; simplified 鲍)
174. 位 (Wei)
175. 覃 (Tan)
176. 霍 (Huo)
177. 翁 (Weng)
178. 隋 (Sui)
179. 植 (Zhi)
180. 甘 (Gan)
181. 景 (Jing)
182. 薄 (Bao)
183. 單 (Dan; simplified 单)
184. 包 (Bao)
185. 司 (Si)
186. 柏 (Bai)
187. 寧 (Ning; simplified 宁)
188. 柯 (Ke)
189. 阮 (Ruan)
190. 桂 (Gui)
191. 閔 (Min;simplified 闵)
192. 歐陽 (Ou Yang; simplified 欧阳)
193. 解 (Jie)
194. 強 (Qiang)
195. 柴 (Chai)
196. 華 (Hua; simplified 华)
197. 車 (Che; simplified 车)
198. 冉 (Ran)
199. 房 (Fang)
200. 邊 (Bian; simplified 边)
201. 辜 (Gu)
202. 吉 (Ji)
203. 饒 (Rao; simplified 饶)
204. 刁 (Diao)
205. 瞿 (Qu)
206. 戚 (Qi)
207. 丘 (Qiu)
208. 古 (Gu)
209. 米 (Mi)
210. 池 (Chi)
211. 滕 (Teng)
212. 晉 (Jin)
213. 苑 (Yuan)
214. 鄔 (Wu; simplified 邬)
215. 臧 (Zang)
216. 暢 (Chang)
217. 宮 (Gong)
218. 來 (Lai)
219. 嵺 (Liao)
220. 苟 (Gou)
221. 全 (Quan)
222. 褚 (Chu)
223. 廉 (Lian)
224. 簡 (Jian; simplified 简)
225. 婁 (Lou; simplified 娄)
226. 蓋 (Gai; simplified 盖)
227. 符 (Fu)
228. 奚 (Xi)
229. 木(Mu)
230. 穆 (Mu)
231. 黨 (Dang; simplified 党)
232. 燕 (Yan)
233. 郎 (Lang)
234. 邸 (Di)
235. 冀 (Ji)
236. 談 (Tan; simplified 谈)
237. 姬 (Ji)
238. 屠 (Tu)
239. 連 (Lian; simplified 连)
240. 郜 (Gao)
241. 晏 (Yan)
242. 欒 (Luan; simplified 栾)
243. 鬱 (Yu; simplified 郁)
244. 商 (Shang)
245. 蒙 (Meng)
246. 計 (Ji; simplified 计)
247. 喻 (Yu)
248. 揭 (Jie)
249. 竇 (Dou; simplified 窦)
250. 遲 (Chi; simplified 迟)
251. 宇 (Yu)
252. 敖 (Ao)
253. 糜 (Mi)
254. 鄢 (Yan)
255. 冷 (Leng)
256. 卓 (Zhuo)
257. 花 (Hua)
258. 仇 (Chou)
259. 艾(Ai)
260. 藍 (Lan)
261. 都 (Dou)
262. 鞏 (Gong; simplified 巩)
263. 稽 (Ji)
264. 井 (Jing)
265. 練 (Lian; simplified 练)
266. 仲 (Zhong)
267. 樂 (Le; simplified 乐)
268. 虞 (Yu)
269. 卞 (Bian)
270. 封 (Feng)
271. 竺 (Zhu)
272. 冼 (Xian)
273. 原 (Yuan)
274. 官 (Guan)
275. 衣 (Yi)
276. 楚 (Chu)
277. 佟 (Tong)
278. 栗 (Li)
279. 匡 (Kuang)
280. 宗 (Zong)
281. 應 (Ying; simplified 应)
282. 台 (Tai)
283. 巫 (Wu)
284. 鞠 (Ju)
285. 僧 (Seng)
286. 桑 (Sang)
287. 荊 (Jing)
288. 諶 (Chen)
289. 銀 (Yin)
290. 揚 (Yang; simplified 扬)
291. 明 (Ming)
292. 沙 (Sha)
293. 薄 (Bao)
294. 伏 (Fu)
295. 岑 (Cen)
296. 習 (Xi; simplified 习)
297. 胥 (Xu)
298. 保 (Bao)
299. 和 (He)
300. 藺 (Lin; simplified 蔺)
Also read : How to Find Out Someone’s Zodiac Sign, Based on Their Year of Birth and its Elements
What do you have a Chinese surname too?
If you don’t find the surnames in the list above, it means you have a super rare surnames 🙂