Yuan
袁 — Yuán
The 37th most common surname in China
37th most common surname in mainland China (Ministry of Public Security top-100 report for 2019); held by more than 6.5 million people worldwide and making up about 0.54% of the population of mainland China.
Where the name comes from
Tradition traces the name to Yuan Taotu (轅濤塗), a 7th-century BC nobleman of the state of Chen from a collateral branch of its ruling marquises, who was granted an estate at Yangjia (陽夏) — modern Taikang County, Henan — regarded as the ancestral home of the clan. Through the Chen ruling house the Yuan also claimed descent from the legendary Emperor Shun.
The same name, spelled differently
A Chinese surname is a character, not a spelling. The Latin letters on a passport come from whichever dialect the name was written down from — so these are all 袁.
- YuanMandarin — mainland China, Taiwan
- YuenCantonese — Hong Kong
- Un / IunCantonese — Macau
- OânHokkien (Pe̍h-ōe-jī)
- Wan / Weng / NgenSingapore, Malaysia
- WangTeochew
- ViênVietnamese
The character
Outside a name, 袁 is an ordinary word meaning robe.
- Strokes
- 10
- Radical
- 衣
- As a word
- yuán