Chen (surname)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

For other uses, see Chen.

陳; Chén

Chén (Simplified Chinese: 陈, Traditional Chinese: 陳) is one of the most common Chinese family names. It ranks at the 5th most popular surname in Mainland China. Chen is also the most common family name in Guangdong, Zhejiang, Fujian, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau. It is usually romanised as Chan in Cantonese, and sometimes as Chun. In Fukien (Hokkien, Taiwanese, Southern Min) as well as Teochew (Chiuchau), the name is pronounced Tan. In Hakka, the name in pronounced Chin. Some other Romanisations include Zen and Ding.

In Vietnam, this surname is written in Quoc Ngu as Trần, and is the second most popular Vietnamese surname, accounting for 11% of the population ^[1], after the surname Nguyễn (38.4%).

Chen is also a Hebrew family name used by Israelis. It is pronounced khen, and means grace or favour.

1 History
2 Other variations
3 Prominent people
4 Fictional characters with surname Chen
5 References
6 External links

[edit] History

Initial surname Chen was from Gui (Chinese:媯, pinyin: Gūi), which was an ancient Chinese surname of descendants of Emperor Shun, who was one of the Three August Ones and the Five Emperors. When King Wu of Zhou established the Zhou Dynasty, he gave the Land of Chen to the descendants to established their own state. To show his respect for Emperor Shun, the new state, which was also named by Chen, was one of the Three Guest States of Zhou (Chinese:三恪, pinyin: Sān Kè), which meant this nation was not the subordinate, but the guest of Zhou. However, the Chen state was occupied by Chu after 10th Century BC. Since then, the people of this state began to use Chen as their surname.

[edit] Other variations

Chan, used in Cantonese
Chin, used in Hakka, Taishan and Japanese
Chun or Jin, used in Korean
Son, used in Hainanese
Tan (Tân), used in Min Nan (including Taiwanese)
Tang, used in Teochew
Ting or Ding, used in Fuzhou
Trần, used in Vietnamese
Zen, used in the Shanghainese

[edit] Prominent people

Chin Peng, Long-time leader of now disbanded Malayan Communist Party
Eason Chan, Hong Kong actor and singer, voted as Best Looking Asian
Rulers of the Chen Dynasty
Rulers of the Tran Dynasty
Chen Shui-bian, first non-KMT President of the Republic of China (Taiwan)
Tran Duc Luong, President of Vietnam
Anna Chan Chennault, first female reporter for the Central News Agency
Chen Duxiu, Communist Party of China founder
Chen Jingrun, (1933-1996), mathematician
Kelly Chen Wai-Lam, Hong Kong actress and singer
Joan Chen Chong, Chinese-American actress and film director
Sisy Chen, Taiwanese politician
Steve Chen, supercomputer designer
Chen Tsyr-shiou, Chairman of Taiwan Province
Chen Yi, Communist Party of China military commander
Chen Yi, Chief executive of Taiwan Province
Chen Yuanyuan, concubine of Wu Sangui
Stephen Laochariyakul Chen, Teco Diagnostics
Shiing-Shen Chern, mathematician
Ming W. Chin, Associate Justice of the California Supreme Court
Tiffany Chin, figure skater
Vincent Chin, victim of racial crime
Chun Doo Hwang
Tran Hung Dao, Vietnamese national hero
Arthur Chin, fighter ace
Chen Hong, Chinese badminton player
Chen Yu, Chinese badminton player
Chris Chan, Chinese Canadian Idol
Bruce Hwang Chen, Taiwanese-American director
Robert Chen, violinist, Concertmaster of Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Chin Siu Dek, aka Jimmy H. Woo, brought one of the Chinese martial arts, Tsoi Li Ho Fut Hung, or Kung Fu San Soo from Taishan to America, as noted here
Chen Kenichi, the only "Iron Chef Chinese" in the syndicated TV program Iron Chef
Chen Kenmin, father of the above and a prominent Chinese chef in Japan
Agnes Chan, a Hong Kong singer, also famous in Japan
Chen Chi Chen (陳綺貞), a Taiwanese singer
Priscilla Chan, a Hong Kong singer
Tze-Chung Chen, a Taiwanese professional golfer
H. T. Chen, American dancer and choreographer