---
title: "Chinese surnames: the 100 most common, and how they are spelled"
url: https://popularinchina.com/culture/chinese-surnames
section: "Culture"
type: answer
updated: 2026-11-01
next_review: 2027-02-01
status: checked
author: "The Popular in China desk"
fact_checker: "Alex Liu"
publisher: Popular in China (https://popularinchina.com)
license: Quote with attribution and a link to https://popularinchina.com/culture/chinese-surnames
---

# Chinese surnames: the 100 most common, and how they are spelled

_China has more than 6,000 surnames in use, but a hundred of them cover most of the country, and five cover nearly a third of it. Here is the official top 100, how concentrated Chinese surnames are, and why the same name is spelled Chen, Chan or Tan depending on where the family came from._

**Verdict: Wang, then Li and Zhang** (王李张) — Wang is China's most common surname; the top five cover 30.8% of registered residents

## Short answer

China's most common surnames are Wang (王), Li (李), Zhang (张), Liu (刘) and Chen (陈), which together cover 30.8% of registered residents. More than 6,000 surnames are in use, but the top 100, the 'hundred family names', cover 85.9% of the population, according to the Ministry of Public Security.

## At a glance

- **In Chinese:** 姓 (xìng), surname; 姓氏 (xìngshì)
- **Most common:** Wang, Li, Zhang, Liu, Chen (Ministry of Public Security)
- **Top five share:** 30.8% of registered residents (2020 report)
- **Top 100 share:** 85.9% of registered residents (2019 report)
- **Surnames in use:** More than 6,000
- **Order:** Surname first, then the given name: Wang Fang, not Fang Wang

## The 100 most common surnames in China

The Ministry of Public Security's 2019 ranking, the most recent full top 100. Other spellings are the common Cantonese (Hong Kong) and Hokkien forms, used by many Chinese families in Southeast Asia and the West. Follow the links for our guides to each name. [1]

| Rank | Surname | Chinese | Other spellings |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | [Wang](/culture/chinese-surnames/wang) | 王 Wáng | Wong (Cantonese), Ong (Hokkien) |
| 2 | [Li](/culture/chinese-surnames/li) | 李 Lǐ | Lee, Li (Cantonese) |
| 3 | [Zhang](/culture/chinese-surnames/zhang) | 张 Zhāng | Cheung (Cantonese), Teo (Hokkien) |
| 4 | [Liu](/culture/chinese-surnames/liu) | 刘 Liú | Lau (Cantonese, Hokkien) |
| 5 | [Chen](/culture/chinese-surnames/chen) | 陈 Chén | Chan (Cantonese), Tan (Hokkien) |
| 6 | [Yang](/culture/chinese-surnames/yang) | 杨 Yáng | Yeung (Cantonese), Yeo, Yeoh (Hokkien) |
| 7 | [Huang](/culture/chinese-surnames/huang) | 黄 Huáng | Wong (Cantonese), Ng, Ooi, Wee (Hokkien) |
| 8 | [Zhao](/culture/chinese-surnames/zhao) | 赵 Zhào | Chiu (Cantonese), Teo (Hokkien) |
| 9 | [Wu](/culture/chinese-surnames/wu) | 吴 Wú | Ng (Cantonese), Goh (Hokkien) |
| 10 | [Zhou](/culture/chinese-surnames/zhou) | 周 Zhōu | Chow, Chau (Cantonese), Chew (Hokkien) |
| 11 | [Xu](/culture/chinese-surnames/xu) | 徐 Xú | Tsui (Cantonese), Chee (Hokkien) |
| 12 | [Sun](/culture/chinese-surnames/sun) | 孙 Sūn | Suen (Cantonese), Sng, Soon (Hokkien) |
| 13 | [Ma](/culture/chinese-surnames/ma) | 马 Mǎ | Ma, Mah (Cantonese), Beh (Hokkien) |
| 14 | [Zhu](/culture/chinese-surnames/zhu) | 朱 Zhū | Chu (Cantonese), Choo (Hokkien) |
| 15 | [Hu](/culture/chinese-surnames/hu) | 胡 Hú | Wu, Woo (Cantonese), Oh, Aw (Hokkien) |
| 16 | [Guo](/culture/chinese-surnames/guo) | 郭 Guō | Kwok (Cantonese), Quek, Kwek (Hokkien) |
| 17 | He | 何 Hé | Ho (Cantonese, Hokkien) |
| 18 | [Lin](/culture/chinese-surnames/lin) | 林 Lín | Lam (Cantonese), Lim (Hokkien) |
| 19 | [Gao](/culture/chinese-surnames/gao) | 高 Gāo | Ko (Cantonese, Hokkien) |
| 20 | [Luo](/culture/chinese-surnames/luo) | 罗 Luó | Lo, Law (Cantonese), Loh (Hokkien) |
| 21 | [Zheng](/culture/chinese-surnames/zheng) | 郑 Zhèng | Cheng (Cantonese), Tay, Teh (Hokkien) |
| 22 | [Liang](/culture/chinese-surnames/liang) | 梁 Liáng | Leung (Cantonese), Neo (Hokkien) |
| 23 | [Xie](/culture/chinese-surnames/xie) | 谢 Xiè | Tse (Cantonese), Chia, Seah (Hokkien) |
| 24 | [Song](/culture/chinese-surnames/song) | 宋 Sòng | Sung (Cantonese), Song (Hokkien) |
| 25 | [Tang](/culture/chinese-surnames/tang) | 唐 Táng | Tong (Cantonese), Tang (Hokkien) |
| 26 | Xu | 许 Xǔ | Hui (Cantonese), Koh (Hokkien) |
| 27 | [Deng](/culture/chinese-surnames/deng) | 邓 Dèng | Tang (Cantonese), Teng (Hokkien) |
| 28 | [Han](/culture/chinese-surnames/han) | 韩 Hán | Hon (Cantonese), Han (Hokkien) |
| 29 | [Feng](/culture/chinese-surnames/feng) | 冯 Féng | Fung (Cantonese), Pang (Hokkien) |
| 30 | Cao | 曹 Cáo | Cho, Tso (Cantonese) |
| 31 | [Peng](/culture/chinese-surnames/peng) | 彭 Péng | Pang (Cantonese), Peh (Hokkien) |
| 32 | [Zeng](/culture/chinese-surnames/zeng) | 曾 Zēng | Tsang (Cantonese), Chan (Hokkien) |
| 33 | [Xiao](/culture/chinese-surnames/xiao) | 萧 Xiāo | Siu (Cantonese), Seow (Hokkien) |
| 34 | [Tian](/culture/chinese-surnames/tian) | 田 Tián | Tin (Cantonese) |
| 35 | [Dong](/culture/chinese-surnames/dong) | 董 Dǒng | Tung (Cantonese), Tong (Hokkien) |
| 36 | [Pan](/culture/chinese-surnames/pan) | 潘 Pān | Poon, Pun (Cantonese), Phua (Hokkien) |
| 37 | [Yuan](/culture/chinese-surnames/yuan) | 袁 Yuán | Yuen (Cantonese) |
| 38 | [Cai](/culture/chinese-surnames/cai) | 蔡 Cài | Choi, Choy (Cantonese), Chua (Hokkien) |
| 39 | [Jiang](/culture/chinese-surnames/jiang) | 蒋 Jiǎng | Tseung (Cantonese) |
| 40 | [Yu](/culture/chinese-surnames/yu) | 余 Yú | Yu, Yue, Yee (Cantonese) |
| 41 | [Yu](/culture/chinese-surnames/yu) | 于 Yú | Yue (Cantonese) |
| 42 | [Du](/culture/chinese-surnames/du) | 杜 Dù | To (Cantonese), Toh (Hokkien) |
| 43 | [Ye](/culture/chinese-surnames/ye) | 叶 Yè | Yip, Ip (Cantonese), Yap (Hokkien) |
| 44 | Cheng | 程 |  |
| 45 | Wei | 魏 |  |
| 46 | Su | 苏 |  |
| 47 | Lü | 吕 |  |
| 48 | Ding | 丁 |  |
| 49 | Ren | 任 |  |
| 50 | Lu | 卢 |  |
| 51 | Yao | 姚 |  |
| 52 | Shen | 沈 |  |
| 53 | Zhong | 钟 |  |
| 54 | Jiang | 姜 |  |
| 55 | Cui | 崔 |  |
| 56 | Tan | 谭 |  |
| 57 | Lu | 陆 |  |
| 58 | Fan | 范 |  |
| 59 | [Wang](/culture/chinese-surnames/wang) | 汪 |  |
| 60 | Liao | 廖 |  |
| 61 | Shi | 石 |  |
| 62 | Jin | 金 |  |
| 63 | Wei | 韦 |  |
| 64 | Jia | 贾 |  |
| 65 | Xia | 夏 |  |
| 66 | Fu | 傅 |  |
| 67 | Fang | 方 |  |
| 68 | Zou | 邹 |  |
| 69 | Xiong | 熊 |  |
| 70 | Bai | 白 |  |
| 71 | Meng | 孟 |  |
| 72 | Qin | 秦 |  |
| 73 | Qiu | 邱 |  |
| 74 | Hou | 侯 |  |
| 75 | Jiang | 江 |  |
| 76 | Yin | 尹 |  |
| 77 | Xue | 薛 |  |
| 78 | Yan | 阎 |  |
| 79 | Duan | 段 |  |
| 80 | Lei | 雷 |  |
| 81 | Long | 龙 |  |
| 82 | [Li](/culture/chinese-surnames/li) | 黎 |  |
| 83 | Shi | 史 |  |
| 84 | Tao | 陶 |  |
| 85 | He | 贺 |  |
| 86 | Mao | 毛 |  |
| 87 | Hao | 郝 |  |
| 88 | Gu | 顾 |  |
| 89 | Gong | 龚 |  |
| 90 | Shao | 邵 |  |
| 91 | Wan | 万 |  |
| 92 | Qin / Tan | 覃 |  |
| 93 | [Wu](/culture/chinese-surnames/wu) | 武 |  |
| 94 | Qian | 钱 |  |
| 95 | Dai | 戴 |  |
| 96 | Yan | 严 |  |
| 97 | Ou | 欧 |  |
| 98 | Mo | 莫 |  |
| 99 | Kong | 孔 |  |
| 100 | Xiang | 向 |  |

Xu covers two names: 徐 (No. 11) and 许 (No. 26). Yu covers 余 (No. 40) and 于 (No. 41). Jiang 蒋 is No. 39; 姜 (No. 54) and 江 (No. 75) are also read Jiang.

## Why so many Chinese people share a surname

China has more than 6,000 surnames in use, but a few dominate. In the Ministry of Public Security's 2019 name report the 100 most common surnames covered 85.9% of everyone on the household register, and its 2020 report found that the top five alone, Wang, Li, Zhang, Liu and Chen, covered 30.8%. Earlier counts give a sense of scale: a 2007 survey put Wang at about 92.9 million people and Li at about 92.1 million.

The top of the list barely moves. Wan (万) and Ou (欧) entered the top 100 in 2019, with 2.75 million and 2.61 million people, while Chang (常) and Tang (汤) sat just outside at 101st and 102nd. Among babies registered in 2020, Li was the most common surname, with 726,000 newborns.

Sources: [1][2][3]

## Which surname is biggest where

In the 2019 report, the largest surname in each provincial-level region. [2]

| Surname | Largest in | Note |
| --- | --- | --- |
| [Wang](/culture/chinese-surnames/wang) 王 | 16 provincial-level regions | China's largest surname overall |
| [Li](/culture/chinese-surnames/li) 李 | 5 provincial-level regions |  |
| [Chen](/culture/chinese-surnames/chen) 陈 | 3 provincial-level regions |  |
| [Ma](/culture/chinese-surnames/ma) 马 | 2: Qinghai and Ningxia |  |

## Wong, Chan, Ng, Lim, Tan: Chinese surnames outside the mainland

Mainland China writes surnames in pinyin. Families from Guangdong and Hong Kong usually spell them as Cantonese sounds, and families from Fujian, Singapore, Malaysia and the Philippines often use Hokkien sounds, so one character can have several English spellings. [1]

| Spelling | Character | Pinyin (mainland) | Dialect |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Wong | 黄 or 王 | Huang or Wang | Cantonese |
| Chan | 陈 | Chen | Cantonese |
| Tan | 陈 | Chen | Hokkien |
| Ng | 吴 | Wu | Cantonese |
| Ng | 黄 | Huang | Hokkien |
| Lim | 林 | Lin | Hokkien |
| Lam | 林 | Lin | Cantonese |
| Lee | 李 | Li | Cantonese, Hokkien |
| Lau | 刘 | Liu | Cantonese, Hokkien |
| Cheung | 张 | Zhang | Cantonese |
| Leung | 梁 | Liang | Cantonese |
| Ong | 王 | Wang | Hokkien |
| Goh | 吴 | Wu | Hokkien |
| Yip / Yap | 叶 | Ye | Cantonese / Hokkien |

Older English texts use Wade–Giles, the system before pinyin: Ch'en for Chen, Chang for Zhang, Hsieh for Xie, Hsü for Xu.

> **Note: Surname first**
>
> A Chinese name puts the surname first: in Wang Fang, Wang is the family name and Fang the given name. In the 2019 report, 84.3% of registered residents had a three-character name. Our guide to [how Chinese names work](/culture/chinese-names) explains given names, the most common full names and popular baby names.

Sources: [2]

## Guides to the most common surnames

- **Top ten**: [Wang](/culture/chinese-surnames/wang) · [Li](/culture/chinese-surnames/li) · [Zhang](/culture/chinese-surnames/zhang) · [Liu](/culture/chinese-surnames/liu) · [Chen](/culture/chinese-surnames/chen) · [Yang](/culture/chinese-surnames/yang) · [Huang](/culture/chinese-surnames/huang) · [Zhao](/culture/chinese-surnames/zhao) · [Wu](/culture/chinese-surnames/wu) · [Zhou](/culture/chinese-surnames/zhou)
- **11–30**: [Xu](/culture/chinese-surnames/xu) · [Sun](/culture/chinese-surnames/sun) · [Ma](/culture/chinese-surnames/ma) · [Zhu](/culture/chinese-surnames/zhu) · [Hu](/culture/chinese-surnames/hu) · [Guo](/culture/chinese-surnames/guo) · [Lin](/culture/chinese-surnames/lin) · [Gao](/culture/chinese-surnames/gao) · [Luo](/culture/chinese-surnames/luo) · [Zheng](/culture/chinese-surnames/zheng) · [Liang](/culture/chinese-surnames/liang) · [Xie](/culture/chinese-surnames/xie) · [Song](/culture/chinese-surnames/song) · [Tang](/culture/chinese-surnames/tang) · [Deng](/culture/chinese-surnames/deng) · [Han](/culture/chinese-surnames/han) · [Feng](/culture/chinese-surnames/feng)
- **31–43**: [Peng](/culture/chinese-surnames/peng) · [Zeng](/culture/chinese-surnames/zeng) · [Xiao](/culture/chinese-surnames/xiao) · [Tian](/culture/chinese-surnames/tian) · [Dong](/culture/chinese-surnames/dong) · [Pan](/culture/chinese-surnames/pan) · [Yuan](/culture/chinese-surnames/yuan) · [Cai](/culture/chinese-surnames/cai) · [Jiang](/culture/chinese-surnames/jiang) · [Yu](/culture/chinese-surnames/yu) · [Du](/culture/chinese-surnames/du) · [Ye](/culture/chinese-surnames/ye)
- **Given names**: [How Chinese names work](/culture/chinese-names) · [Popular Chinese boys' names](/culture/chinese-names/male-names) · [Popular Chinese girls' names](/culture/chinese-names/female-names)
- **Tools**: [Chinese surname finder](/tools/chinese-surnames): type Wong, Chan or Ng to find the character · [Chinese name generator](/tools/chinese-name-generator): get a Chinese name of your own

## Questions

**What is the most common surname in China?**

Wang (王). It is the largest surname nationally and the largest in 16 provincial-level regions, according to the Ministry of Public Security's 2019 report. Li (李) and Zhang (张) come next; a 2007 survey counted about 92.9 million Wangs and 92.1 million Lis.

**What are the most common Chinese last names?**

In order: Wang, Li, Zhang, Liu, Chen, Yang, Huang, Zhao, Wu and Zhou (Ministry of Public Security, 2019). The top five cover 30.8% of China's registered residents, and the top 100 cover 85.9%.

**How many Chinese surnames are there?**

More than 6,000 are in use in China today, according to the Ministry of Public Security's 2019 name report. But the 100 most common cover 85.9% of the population.

**Why is Chen spelled Chan or Tan?**

Because it is the same character, 陈, read in different Chinese languages. Chen is the Mandarin pinyin spelling used in mainland China, Chan is Cantonese (common in Hong Kong and Guangdong families), and Tan is Hokkien (common in Singapore, Malaysia and the Philippines).

**Is Wong Chinese for Wang or Huang?**

It can be either. In Cantonese both 黄 (Huang) and 王 (Wang) are spelled Wong in Hong Kong style. The Hokkien spelling of 王 is Ong, and 黄 is often Ng or Ooi.

**Is Ng a Chinese surname?**

Yes. Ng is the Cantonese spelling of 吴 (Wu in Mandarin), and also a Hokkien spelling of 黄 (Huang). It is common in Hong Kong, Singapore and Malaysia.

**Does the surname come first in Chinese?**

Yes. In Chinese order the surname comes first, so in 王芳 (Wang Fang) the surname is Wang. Some Chinese people reverse the order when writing in English.

## Sources

1. [Wikipedia, List of common Chinese surnames (Ministry of Public Security 2019 ranking; romanisation table; 2007 survey)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_common_Chinese_surnames) — accessed 2026-11-01
2. [The Paper (澎湃), Ministry of Public Security 2019 national name report (in Chinese)](https://m.thepaper.cn/newsDetail_forward_5584537) — accessed 2026-11-01
3. [The Paper (澎湃), Ministry of Public Security 2020 national name report (in Chinese)](https://www.thepaper.cn/newsDetail_forward_11269566) — accessed 2026-11-01

## Related

- https://popularinchina.com/culture/chinese-names
- https://popularinchina.com/culture/chinese-surnames/wang
- https://popularinchina.com/culture/chinese-surnames/chen
- https://popularinchina.com/culture/chinese-surnames/li

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