Wong (surname)

Wong is the Jyutping and Hong Kong romanization of the surnames Wang (Chinese: 王), Huang and Vong (simplified Chinese: 黄; traditional Chinese: 黃), two ubiquitous Chinese surnames; Wang (Chinese: 汪), another common Chinese surname; and a host of other rare Chinese surnames, including Heng (simplified Chinese: 横; traditional Chinese: 橫), Hong (Chinese: 弘), Hong (simplified Chinese: 闳; traditional Chinese: 閎), and Hong (Chinese: 宏).

Note that, while 汪 could be distinguished by its tone, 黃 (Wong/Huang) and 王 (Wong/Wang) are homophones in Cantonese. To differentiate the two in conversation, 黃 (Wong/Huang) is customarily referred to by native Cantonese speakers as 黃河的黃 (Yellow River Wong), 黃金的黃 (Yellow Gold Wong) "big belly Wong" (as the character resembles a person with a big belly) or by native Mandarin speakers as "grass-head Wong" (due to its first radical), whereas the 王 (Wong/Wang) is referred as the "three-stroke Wong" (due to its prominent 3 horizontal strokes).

Distribution

Within China, Taiwan and Vietnam names are written using Chinese characters and are officially romanized using the Hanyu Pinyin. In Hong Kong and Macao and among the Chinese diaspora abroad, though, many choose to romanize their name according to their dialectical pronunciation.

Thus, while there is no official tally of "Wong's" inside China or Taiwan, Wong is the 6th most common Chinese name in Singapore, the 3rd most common Chinese name in America, and the most common Chinese name in Ontario, Canada.

Although recent immigration from central and northern China has caused the pinyin romanizations "Wang" and "Huang" to become more common, "Wong" is still by far the most common version in all three locations, just as "Lee" remains more common than "Li".

Origins

The romanization "Wong" dates back to the beginning of British trade with China in the 17th and 18th centuries. The name can be used to trace the migratory routes of the early migrant Chinese from Guangdong and Fujian to places such as Canada and the United States.

List of persons with the surname

See also

• Huang (surname) and Wang (surname) for more information and other romanizations
• Ah Wong, a surname