Top 10 Most Common Chinese Surnames

Top 10 Most Common Chinese Surnames
Chinese “surnames” (family name) come first when written, opposite to the Western name order. There are about 2,000 Chinese surnames in use today, but about half of all Han Chinese people share the same 19 surnames!
The most common surnames are Wang and Li (each with about 7% of China’s population, compared to about 0.8% for Smith, the USA’s most common surname). The next 8 in the top 10 most common Chinese surnames are: Zhang, Liu, Chen, Yang, Huang, Zhao, Wu, and Zhou.

Surname	Population	Percentage
李 (Lǐ)	95,300,000	7.94％
王 (Wáng)	88,900,000	7.41％
张 (Zhāng)	84,800,000	7.07％
刘 (Liú)	64,600,000	5.38％
陈 (Chén)	54,400,000	4.53％
杨 (Yáng)	37,000,000	3.08％
赵 (Zhào)	27,500,000	2.29％
黄 (Huáng)	26,800,000	2.23％
周 (Zhōu)	25,400,000	2.12％
吴 (Wú)	24,600,000	2.05％

Changing Your Name After Marriage? In China, women don’t change their surnames when they get married. And nowadays, kids’ surnames can be the same as their mother’s or father’s (or they could take both, like a double-barreled surname). Traditionally, Chinese children always take their father’s family name.

Popular Chinese Female/Girl Names
Most traditional Chinese female names are related to ‘beauty’, ‘happiness’, ‘flowers’, or ‘jade’. Here are some top female names:

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  1. Ai 爱 – Love
  
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  2. Fang 芳 – Fragrance
  
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  3. Jing 静 – calm/quiet
  
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  4. Li 丽– pretty
  
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  5. Min 敏– nimble/clever
  
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  6. Yan 燕– swallow
  
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  7. Xiu 秀–elegant/graceful
  
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  8. Ya 雅– elegant
  
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  9. Hua 花–flower
  
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  10. Fen 芬–scent
  
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  11. Xiang 香– fragrance
  
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  12. Chun 春–spring
  
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  13. Mei 美 –beauty
  

Top 10 Most Popular Chinese Female/Girl Names
According to the surveys of the Ministry of Public Security of China, the top 10 most popular Chinese girl’s names right now are the following:

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  1. 一诺 (Yī nuò) – one promise
  
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  2. 依诺 (Yī nuò) – follow promise
  
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  3. 欣怡 (Xīn yí)– happy/quiet
  
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  4. 梓涵 (Zǐ hán)– catalpa tree mellow
  
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  5. 语桐 (Yǔ tóng)– speak Firmiana Simplex tree
  
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  6. 欣妍 (Xīn yán)– vitality/beauty
  
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  7. 可欣 (Kě xīn)–merit admiration
  
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  8. 语汐 (Yǔ xī)– speak night tide
  
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  9. 雨桐 (Yǔ tóng)–rain Firmiana Simplex tree
  
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  10. 梦瑶 (Mèng yáo)–dream/jade