Name
The name is a linguistic symbol used to distinguish people from each other and it is also an important component of traditional Chinese culture.
According to the history of names, the most complete name system is composed of surname姓, given name名, courtesy name字 and pseudonym号, but today only the combination of “surname plus given name" has been retained.
| Numbers of Characters | Surname 23813 | Remark |
| one single character | 6931 | Currently, there are only about 200 commonly used surnames, of which the most commonly used single surname is only 100. |
| 2 characters | 9012 | |
| 3 characters | 4850 | Multi character surnames and some relatively rare surnames are mostly used by ethnic minorities. |
| 4 characters | 2276 | |
| 5 characters | 541 | |
| 6 characters | 142 | |
| 7 characters | 39 | |
| 8 characters | 14 | |
| 9 characters | 7 | |
| 10 characters | 1 |
《中国姓氏大辞典》According to the latest
At present, there are over 7000 surnames still used by Chinese people, with Han and ethnic minority surnames accounting for approximately half each.
| Surname | ||
| 李 | 7.94% | the Li surname is the most common, with a larger population in the northern region |
| 王 | 7.41% | |
| 张 | 7.07% | |
| 刘Liu | These 19 surnames account for more than half of the national population. |
|
| 陈Chen | ||
| 杨Yang | ||
| 赵Zhao | ||
| 黄Huang | ||
| 周Zhou | ||
| 吴Wu | ||
| 徐Xu | ||
| 孙Sun | ||
| 胡Hu | ||
| 朱Zhu | ||
| 高Gao | ||
| 林Lin | ||
| 何He | ||
| 郭Guo | ||
| 马Ma |
According to the latest statistical data
Based upon Chinese tradition children generally follow about their father's surname. As for the given name, it is common place to use one or two characters, and the choice of the given name often conveys parents’ best wishes and expectations for their children.
The courtesy name and pseudonym are applied to people of the ancient and early modern times, and basically they no longer exist today.
The courtesy name 字 is often related to the meaning of the given name as an explanation or supplement, and it is not given at the child’s birth. Instead it is given by the parents when the capping ceremony冠礼,a symbol of the child's adulthood, is held at the age of 20. After that, the person is called by his courtesy name字 instead of his given name to show respect.
Unlike the two titles mentioned above the pseudonym 号 is usually named by oneself with no restriction of character number. In history, ancient literati preferred pseudonyms, and usually they integrated their experiences, personalities, and ideals into their pseudonyms to demonstrate feelings and aspiration.
Names also contain a rich cultural significance. Throughout Chinese history, naming is often based on the family hierarchy 字辈为纲, and one can tell the kinship and seniority order 亲疏长幼 from a person’s name.
Besides the sequence of the surname coming before the given name reflects the values of families and clans of the Chinese people and Confucianism儒家思想 has a far-reaching influence on
Chinese naming system.
