Zheng (郑): the surname of the ancient state of Zheng, spelled Cheng, Tay or Teh

Origins of the Zheng surname

Zheng is named after a state. In 806 BC King Xuan of Zhou gave his younger brother, Prince You, the fief of Zheng, in what is now Hua County in Shaanxi; the prince is remembered as Duke Huan of Zheng. After the Zhou capital was sacked in 771 BC, his son Duke Wu helped King Ping set up the new Eastern Zhou court at Luoyang, and the state of Zheng moved east into today’s Henan.

Zheng lasted until 375 BC, when it was conquered by the neighbouring state of Han. Its ruling family and many of its people then took the state’s name as their surname. Xingyang, now part of Zhengzhou, is regarded as the home of the Zheng clan, and the city’s own name, Zhengzhou, means ‘settlement of Zheng’.

The surname comes 7th in the Hundred Family Surnames (百家姓). Under the Tang dynasty the Zheng of Xingyang were one of the seven great noble families of the empire.[2][3][4]

Where the Zheng surname is most common

Zheng was the 21st most common surname in mainland China in the Ministry of Public Security’s 2019 ranking. The Fuxi Institution’s 2013 figures counted about 12.4 million people named Zheng, 0.93% of the population, with the largest number in Guangdong.

It ranks higher along the south-east coast than nationally: it is the 4th most common surname in Fuzhou, and the 12th in Taiwan. The same character is also one of Korea’s largest surnames: Jeong is the 5th most common in South Korea, with about 2.01 million people in 2000.[1][2][3]