Yan
阎 · traditionally 閻 — Yán
The 78th most common surname in China
78th of the 100 commonest surnames in mainland China (Ministry of Public Security top-100 report, edition released January 2020 for 2019, as tabulated by English Wikipedia). English Wikipedia states that 'in 2008, the surname Yan (阎) was estimated to be the 75th most common surname in the People's Republic of China, shared by around 3.1 million citizens'; Chinese Wikipedia gives 75th for 2006.
Where the name comes from
The surname comes from fiefs named Yan. English Wikipedia gives two: a fief near Xihua County, Henan, granted by King Wu of Zhou to Zhong Yi, a great-grandson of Taibo (an alternative account credits King Kang of Zhou granting it to his eldest son), and the fief of Yanjing in Shanxi, granted to Yi, a prince of Jin, during the Spring and Autumn period. Chinese Wikipedia records a third tradition, that a younger son of King Zhao of Zhou was born with the graph 閻 on his hand and was enfeoffed at Yan city. The name's early heartland was Henan, Shanxi and Hubei.
The character
Outside a name, 阎 is an ordinary word meaning village gate.
- Strokes
- 11
- Radical
- 门
- Traditional
- 閻
- As a word
- yán
Other surnames read “Yan”
Romanised the same way, but a different character and a different family.