Wang (surname)


Wang is the pinyin romanization of the common Chinese surnames ' and '.
Wáng was listed 8th on the famous Song Dynasty list of the Hundred Family Surnames; it is currently the most common surname in mainland China.
Wāng was 104th of the Hundred Family Surnames; it is currently the 58th-most-common surname in mainland China.
Wang is also a surname with unrelated origins in several European countries.

Romanizations

王 is also romanized as Wong in Hong Kong, Macau, Cantonese, Hakka and Hainanese; Waan or Waon in Shanghainese; Ong or Bong in Hokkien; Heng in Teochew; Uōng in Gan; Vang, Vaj, or Vaaj in Hmong; Vương or Vong in Vietnamese; Wang in Korean; and Ō or Oh in Japanese.

Distribution

Wáng is one of the most common surnames in the world and was listed by the People's Republic of China's National Citizen ID Information System as the most common surname in mainland China in April 2007, with 92.88 million bearers and comprising 7.25% of the general population. In 2019 it was again the most common surname in Mainland China. A 2013 study found the province with the most people sharing the name was Henan. Overall the name is more prevalent in Northern China. In 2019 it was the most common surname in nearly every northern province or province-level division: Xinjiang, Gansu, Inner Mongolia, Shaanxi, Shanxi, Henan, Hebei, Anhui, Jiangsu, Shandong, Beijing, Tianjin, Liaoning, Jilin, and Heilongjiang, as well as the southern province of Hainan.
It was the 6th most common surname in Taiwan in 2005, comprising 4.12% of the general population.
Ong is the 5th-most-common surname among Chinese Singaporeans and Wong the 6th, although Wong also includes the surname 黃.
There were 88,000 Wongs during the year 2000 US Census, making it the 7th-most-common surname among Asians and Pacific Islanders and the 279th most common surname overall. The 63,800 Wangs ranked 10th and 440th, respectively.
Wang is a fairly rare surname in South Korea. The year 2000 South Korean Census listed only 23,447 Wangs.

Origins of Wáng

Wang 王 is the Chinese word for "king". William Baxter and Laurent Sagart reconstructed the Old Chinese form of Wáng as and the Middle Chinese as hjwang.
The modern bearers of the name Wáng come from many different backgrounds, but there are four principal origins of the modern surname: Zi, Ji, Gui, and the adoption of the name from ethnic groups outside the Han Chinese.

Zi house

The most ancient family name of Wáng was originated from the surname Zi. The Chinese legend mentions that near the end of Shang Dynasty, King Zhou of Shang's uncle Bi Gan, Ji Zi, and Wei Zi were called "The Three Kindhearted Men of Shang". King Zhou was violent in his rule, and Bi Gan repeatedly remonstrated to the king regarding his behavior. The king shunned his comments and killed Bi Gan instead. Bi's descendants used Wáng as their surname as they are descendants of a prince and were known as "The Bi clan of the Wáng family". The Zi clan has existed for about 3100 years through Qin Dynasty to Tang Dynasty and exists today. The Zi clan of Wáng lived predominantly in moder-day Henan during these times and developed into the famous Wáng family of Ji prefecture.

House of Ji

More Wáng were originated from the royal family of Zhou Dynasty. The original surname of the royal family of Zhou Dynasty was Ji. However, many of them have separated out of the family due to the loss of power and land. Because they once belonged to the royal family, they used Wáng as their surname. This family of Wáng traced its ancestry to Wang Ziqiao
According to the classical records, after King Wu of Zhou defeated the Shang Dynasty, he established the Western Zhou Dynasty. During the reign of the 21st king, King Ling of Zhou, the capital was in Chengzhou, which is the present day Luoyang, Henan. A son of King Ling, Wangzi Qiao or Prince Qiao, was reduced to civilian status due to his remonstration to the king. His son Zong Jin remained as a Situ in the palace, and because of the people at the time recognized him as the descendant of the royal family, they called his family the "Wáng family".
Another origin is that the surname is from Crown Prince Jin, son of King Ling of Zhou of the Eastern Zhou dynasty. Jin criticized plans to divert the Gu and Luo rivers and was disinherited by his father. His descendants adopted the surname Wang in commemoration of his royal status.
In other cases, the name can also be traced back to Tian He, who usurped the throne of the Qi in 391 BC. After the annihilation of Qi by Qin in 221 BC, some descendants of nobles of Qi adopted the surname Wang in commemoration of royal ancestry.
Wang was also used as a surname by descendants of royal families in certain other states, like Wei, during the Warring States period.
The surname has also been adopted by some families of minorities like the Ke Yi families of the Xianbei during the Northern Wei dynasty.
In some families, this surname is traced back to ancestors who either were endowed with it by an emperor or changed their original surname, claiming royal status.
During the Tang dynasty the Li clan of Zhaojun . A Fuzhou-based section of the Taiyuan Wang produced the Buddhist monk Baizhang.

The surname in other countries/ethnic groups

East Asia

Korea

The surname Wang has a Goguryeo origin and was the royal surname of Goryeo dynasty which was founded by Wang Geon. It is said that when Goryeo fell, many changed their surname to Jeon/Jeon/Ok to avoid severe persecution from the succeeding Joseon Dynasty. The Kaesong Wang lineage traces its ancestry to the Goryeo rulers.

Japan

Ō is a rare Japanese name, mostly held by those of Chinese descent, such as the baseball player Sadaharu Oh, also known as Wang Chen-chih.

Southeast Asia

Indonesia

In Indonesia, the surname is often romanized as "Heng", "Bong" or "Ong" for people of Hokkien descent, and more commonly as Ong by Chinese Peranakan.

Europe

Scandinavia

Wang is also an unrelated surname in Sweden and Norway. It is a variant spelling of the name Vang which is derived from the Old Norse word vangr, meaning field or meadow.

Germany and Netherlands

Wang is also a surname in the German and Dutch languages. The name is derived from Middle German wang/ Middle Dutch waenge, which is literally "cheek". However, in southern German, its meaning, "grassy slope" or "field of grass", is similar to the Scandinavian surname.

Notable people surnamed Wang

Historical figures

United States