Chinese Family Surnames

Chinese family surnames have a few thousand years of history. They were passed down generations after generations among Chinese all over the world. Recent globalization have brought overseas Chinese together again through various forms of international interactions. The spelling of our surnames, however, were proved one of those “so close yet so far away” factors that made direct translations very confusing.

Here, the most common Chinese surnames (according to the classical text Hundred Family Surnames) are listed with their respective transcriptions accustomed in various local and overseas Chinese communities. Where there could be multiple common spellings coexisting within the same community, only the most popular ones are listed below. Still, I hope this list can help resolve some of those confusions going forward, and bring us one step closer together.

Please feel free to contact me (Zmx5aW5nQGZseWluZy13Lm5ldA==) shall you want to share your unique surname.

References

• 中华人：中华百家姓一览，2012年。
• 林氏宗亲网论坛：中国百家姓英文写法大全，2008年。
• 維基百科：中文姓氏羅馬字標注，2012年。
• Chinese compound surname, Wikipedia, September 2012.
• ウィキペディア：Wikipedia:外来語表記法/中国語、2012年。