Yan (surname)

Yan is a Chinese surname. It is the romanization for several Chinese characters, e.g. "严 (嚴)", "偃", "颜 (顏)", "言", "燕", "阎 (閻)", "闫 (閆)", "鄢" in Mandarin or "甄" in Cantonese.

严 (嚴)

Yan (simplified Chinese: 严; traditional Chinese: 嚴) is a Chinese surname. It has various origins:

• in Chu (state), Zhuang (莊) family get surname Yan (嚴), branch of Xiong (surname)
• Zhuang (莊) family change their names to Yan (嚴) upon the ascension of the Han Ming Emperor, whose personal name was Zhuang, owing to the naming taboo.
• in Qin (state), Ying (嬴) family get surname Yan (嚴), branch of Yíng (Chinese surname)
• during the Ancient, the State of Yan (嚴國) founded, there Citizen get surname Yan (嚴) with title of state
• during the Sixteen Kingdoms, the royal of Xianbei get surname Yan (嚴), branch of Liu family the Xiongnu
• Chinese Minority the Xibe people, Yi people, Tu people use surname Yan (嚴)

延

Yan (延) is a Chinese surname. It has various origins:

• during the Han Dynasty, Xirong (西戎) the Loufan (樓煩) get surname Yan (延), branch of Pan (surname) (潘)
• during the Northern Wei (北魏), Emperor Xiaowen (孝文帝) family get surname Yan (延)
• during the Northern Wei (北魏), Xianbei noble's three-syllable surname was reduced to Yan (延)
• during the Ancient, Yue people (越族) Baiyue (百越) get surname Yan (延) in Zhejiang the old Wu (state)

燕

Yan (燕) is Chinese surname. It has various origins:

• during the Ancient China, Ji (姞) family get surname Yan (燕) with title of Nanyan (state) (南燕國)
• during the Zhou Dynasty, Ji (姬) family get surname Yan (燕) with title of Yan (state) (燕國)
• during the Three Kingdoms Period, Wuhuan people use surname Yan (燕)
• Chinese Murong family get surname Yan (燕) with title of Former Yan (前燕)

阎 (閻)

Yan (simplified Chinese: 阎; traditional Chinese: 閻) surname from Ji (姬) family of Zhou Dynasty, and some other surname Yan merge to Yan (閻) in the East Asian Nation.

闫 (閆)

Yan (simplified Chinese: 闫; traditional Chinese: 閆) is the same as Yan (閻), only the shape of writing.

See zh:闫姓.