List of most common surnames in Asia

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Common surnames in Asia

This is a list of the most common surnames in Asia, in alphabetical order of the country.

Armenia[edit]

Source: Armenia’s Voter List[1]

Azerbaijan[edit]

Bangladesh[edit]

Cambodia[edit]

Khmer IPA Romanization Origin
កូយ Kuy
កឹម Kem
កែប Kep
កែវ kaew Keo (2nd most popular surname in Cambodia) meaning glass or jewel or crystal
ខាត់ kʰat Khat Chinese
ខាយ kʰaːy Khay 凱/凯 (triumphant, victorious)
ខៀវ kʰiəw Khiev 喬/乔 (Chinese “qiao”, Vietnamese “kiều”)
ខ្លូត kʰlout Khlot generic name for melon-like fruit
គឹម kɨm Kim 金 (Korean “Kim” / Mandarin Chinese “Jin”, meaning gold)
គួច Kouch
កាំង Kaing
ឃាង Kheang
ឃិន Khin Chinese 欽/钦 (respect, admiration)
ឃីម Khim
ចន្ទ Chan/Chhan/Jan Sanskrit word Candra (चन्द्र) meaning moon
ចាន់ Chan
ចាប Chap Bird
ចេង Cheng
ចេន ceːn Chen/Jen 陳/陳 (Given only to Cambodians of Chinese descent)
ឆន cʰɑːn Chhorn 終/终; whole, complete, entire.
ឆាយ
ជា ciə Chea 谢 (Chinese Xie)
ជាម ciəm Cheam bowl.[4] From Persian جام (jam) meaning “cup”. Or could be from Chinese 詹 [1] (zhan) meaning “talk too much.”
ជិន cin Chin/Jin
ជឹម cɨm Chim/Choem
ជ័យ cɨj Chey/Jey/Jay Most popular surname in Cambodia, the Cambodian word “chey” meaning “victory” or “victorious”, derived from Sanskrit jaya (जय)
ឈិត cʰit Chhet/Chhit 奇 (odd, unusual)
ឈិន 陳/陈 (old)
ឈឹម cʰəm Chhim/Chhem 欽 (respect, admiration)
ញឹក ɲɨk Nhek abbreviation of 涅槃 (Nirvana)
ដួង duəŋ Duong beloved, dear, darling
ឌិត dɨt Dith ḍita from Sanskrit Paṇḍita (पण्डित) meaning wise man or scholar; or Chinese 狄 (“Di”)
ឌិន dɨn Din from ḍina (डिन) in Pali meaning flight
ឌី Dy
ឌុល dul Dul from ḍula (डुल) in Pali meaning earring or tremble
ឌួង duəŋ Duong Chinese 東/东 (east)
តក់ Tok Droplets of water
តាង taːŋ Tang 唐
តាត taːt Tat 達/达 (attain)
តូច touc ~ tuːc Toch/Touch Small or Tiny
តាំង taŋ Taing Possibly from Chinese 凳 [2] meaning “bench” or “chair”.[4]
ថន Than
ទាវ Teav
ទី tiː Ty
ទុំ Tum
ទ្រី Try
ទេព teːp Tep from Deva (देव), Sanskrit for god or divine
ធី tʰiː Thy
នី Ny
ប្រាក់ Prak Khmer for silver
ប៉ាង paːŋ Pang 龐/庞 (vast)
ប៉ុក pok Pok 波 (Bo)
ប៊ុន bun Bun 本 (the four winds, from Vietnamese bốn)
ប៉ែន paen Pen/Ben 賓/宾 (guest/visitor)
ផាន pʰaːn Phan 潘 (to overflow; be abundant)
ពិជ Pech
ពេជ្រ Pich means Diamonds in Cambodia
ភី pʰiː Phy guardian, one of great importance
មា maː Ma ม้า (Thai version of Chinese “Ma”)
មាន miən Mean rich or wealthy; or 緬/缅 (nostalgic, distant)
មាស miəh Meas Khmer for gold
មួយ muəy Muy/Muoy the number 1
មូល muːl Mul round
មេង meːŋ Meng 孟 (Chinese “Meng”)
ម៉ៅ maʋ Mao 毛 (Chinese “Mao”), locals argue that it came from a spoken form of the Khmer word black or kmav (ខ្មៅ).
However this word is reconstructed from Proto-Austro-Asiatic as *kVm and thus is unlikely to be so.
យស់ yuəh Yos/Yous
យុន yun Yun 尹 (Chinese “Yun”)
យូ yuː Yu 尤 (Chinese “Yu”)
រស់ rʊəh Ros/Rous to live
រួយ Rouy
លិម lim Lim 林 (Chinese “Lin”, meaning forest)
លី Ly
លីវ Liv
លឹម Lim
វ៉ាង ʋaaŋ Vang
វង្ស ʋʊəŋ Vong Circle, line of descent. Derived from the Sanskrit word vaṃśa (वंश) meaning lineage.
ស sɑː Sor/Sar White
សង sɑːŋ Sang Payback
សម sɑːm Sam
សរ sɑː Sor/Sar
សាង saːŋ Sang 常 (Variation of Chinese “Chang”)
សាត saːt Sat
សាន saːn San
សាយ saːj Say
សិន sɨn Sin 森; (Forest)
សឺន səɨn Son
សុខ sok Sok from Sanskrit Sukha (सुख) meaning joy or happiness
សុង soŋ Song
សុន son Son
ស៊ុយ suy Suy 隋 (Sui Dynasty)
សូ soː So 蘇/苏 (Chinese “Sū”)
ស៊ូ suː Su 蘇/苏 (Chinese “Sū”)
សួន suən Soun Garden
សឿង Seoung
សៀង sieŋ Sieng/Seang Soy or Shang (From Shang Hai City)
សេង seiŋ Seng 常 (Variation of Chinese “Chang”). Or from Chinese 乘 [3] (seng) meaning “to multiply”[4]
សេន sein Sen Cent
សោម saom Som from Sanskrit soma (सोम) meaning moon or sky
សៅ Sao
ហាក៉ Hak
ហុង hoŋ Hong from Chinese 洪 “Hong” meaning water or flood listed 184th among the Song-era Hundred Family Surnames
ហ៊ុន hun Hun money investment, share (of stocks). Thai or Chinese etymology.[4] Possibly related to 份 [4] (“Hun” in Hokkien) meaning “share, portion.”
ហូ hou Ho/Hu 胡 (Chinese “Hu”)
ឡាយ Lay 來/来 (Chinese “Lai”, meaning Come)
ឡុង loŋ Long 龍/龙 (Chinese “Long”, meaning dragon)
អាង aːŋ Ang/Aang 吳/吴 (Cantonese variation of surname “Wu”)
អិម ʔim Im/Yim 任 (Hakka Chinese ‘jim5’)
អុង ʔoŋ Ong 王 (Chinese “Wang” (pronounced Ong in Hokkien dialect), meaning king)
អ៊ុច ʔuc Uch/Ouch To Light
អ៊ុយ ʔuj Uy
អៀម ʔiəm Eam/Iem/Iam
អៀវ ʔieʋ Iv/Eav/Eaw 楊 (Chinese “Yang”)
អ៊ុំ ʔum Um Aunt (A parent’s older brother or sister)
ឯក ʔaek Ek/Aek Self, Single; from Sanskrit eka (एक)
ឱក ʔaok Ok/Aok 玉 (Jade)
ឱម ʔaom Om 嚴/严 (Chinese “Yan”)

According to a report released by the Ministry of Public Security in January 2019, there are 6,150 different surnames in China with the top 100 surnames used by 85% of the population in 2018.[5]

Rank Name Romanization Total Number in China
(2018)[5]
Simp. Trad.
1 王 Wáng [a]/Wong 101,500,000
2 李 Lǐ [b]/Lee 100,900,000
3 张 張 Zhāng [c]/Cheung 95,400,000
4 刘 劉 Liú [d]/Lau 72,100,000
5 陈 陳 Chén [e]/ Chan 63,000,000
6 杨 楊 Yáng [f] /Yeung 46,200,000
7 黄 黃 Huáng/Wong 33,700,000
8 赵 趙 Zhào/Chiu 28,600,000
9 吴 吳 Wú [g]/Ng 27,800,000
10 周 Zhōu/Chow 26,800,000
11 徐 Xú [h] /Tsui 20,200,000
12 孙 孫 Sūn/Suen 19,400,000
13 马 馬 Mǎ/Ma 19,100,000
14 朱 Zhū/Chu 18,100,000
15 胡 Hú/Wu 16,500,000
16 郭 Guō/Kwok 15,800,000
17 何 Hé/Ho 14,800,000
18 林 Lín/Lam 14,200,000
19 高 Gāo/Ko 14,100,000
20 罗 羅 Luó/Law 14,000,000

Georgia[edit]

Rank Name Romanization Total Number[6]
(2010)
1 ბერიძე Beridze 24,962
2 მამედოვი Mamedov
Mamedovi 		23,675
3 კაპანაძე Kapanadze 17,202
4 გელაშვილი Gelashvili 16,350
5 ალიევი Aliyev
Alievi 		15,742
6 მაისურაძე Maisuradze 14,824
7 გიორგაძე Giorgadze 12,954
8 ლომიძე Lomidze 11,796
9 წიკლაური Tsiklauri 11,571
10 ბოლქვაძე Bolkvadze 10,916
11 კვარაცხელია Kvaratskhelia 10,447
12 ნოზაძე Nozadze 10,183
13 ხუციშვილი Khutsishvili 10,075
14 შენგელია Shengelia 9,928
15 აბულაძე Abuladze 9,663
16 მიქელაძე Mikeladze 9,220
17 ტაბატაძე Tabatadze 8,654
18 მჭედლიშვილი Mchedlishvili 8,446
19 ბაირამოვი Bairamov
Bairamovi 		8,373
20 გოგოლაძე Gogoladze 8,362
Rank Name Romanization Meaning Detail
1 देवी Devi Goddess Common surname of Hindu women
2 कुमार Kumar Prince Common surname of Hindu men
3 सिंह Singh Lion Common surname of Hindu Kshatriyas and Sikhs
4 शर्मा Sharma Joyfulness, comfort, happiness Common surname of Hindu Brahmins
5 अली Ali Name of a companion of Muhammad Common surname of Muslims

Indonesia[edit]

Most Indonesians do not use a family last name. There is only a small number of ethnic groups which maintain family names.

The most common Japanese surnames are Satō (佐藤), Suzuki (鈴木), Takahashi (高橋), Tanaka (田中), and Watanabe (渡辺).

Surnames in Nepal are divided into three origins; Indo-Aryan languages, Tibeto-Burman languages and indigenous origins. Indo-Aryan surnames dominate over Tibeto-Burman Languages and Indigenous Origins surnames.

1. Rai – Common Surnames of Nepalese/Himalayan Indigenous Nations/Natives.
2. Rai Clans/Septs (Confederation) –
Bantawa,
Chamling,
Kulung,
Mewahang,
Bahing,
Lohorung,
Puma,
Dumi,
Dungmali,
Nachhiring,
Lingkhim/Lungkhim,
Chhiling/Chhulung,
Mugali/Lambichong,
Athpahariya,
Thulung,
Khaling,
Mewahang,
Bayung,
Yamphu,
Tilung,
Sampang,
Wambule,
Dewas,
Jerung/Jero,
Waling and Phangduwali.
3. Chamling La-Chamling Language-Rodung as Rai
5. Meaning of Rai – King

Philippines[edit]

The Catálogo alfabético de apellidos (English: Alphabetical Catalogue of Surnames; Tagalog: Alpabetikong Katalogo ng mga apelyedo) is a book of surnames in the Philippines and other islands of Spanish East Indies published in the mid-19th century. This was in response to a Spanish colonial decree establishing the distribution of Spanish family names and local surnames among colonial subjects who did not have a prior surname. It is also the reason why Filipinos share the same surnames of Spanish people.[citation needed]

The book was created after Spanish Governor-General Narciso Clavería y Zaldúa issued a decree on 21 November 1849, to address the lack of a standard naming convention. Newly-Christianized Filipinos often chose the now-ubiquitous surnames of de los Santos, de la Cruz, del Rosario, and Bautista for religious reasons; others preferred names of well-known local rulers such as Lacandola. To complicate matters further, discrepancies like family members holding different surnames would hinder some of the colonial government’s activities such as taking a census and tax collection.

  1. De la Cruz
  2. Santos
  3. Reyes
  4. Cruz
  5. Bautista
  6. Del Rosario
  7. Gonzales
  8. Ramos
  9. Aquino
  10. Garcia
  11. Lopez
  12. Fernández
  13. Mendoza
  14. Morales
  15. Marquez
  16. Hernandez
  17. Navarro
  18. Sanchez
  19. De los Reyes
  20. De los Santos
See also: Список общерусских фамилий (in Russian Wikipedia)

The 20 most common widespread Russian surnames (for males) from the European part of Russia, as calculated by Balanovskaya et al. (2005):[11]

Those Russian surnames that end with –ov/-ev or –in/-yn are originally patronymic or metronymic possessive adjectivals with the meaning ‘son of’ or ‘daughter/wife of’ (the feminine is formed with the -a ending – Smirnova, Ivanova, etc.). In older documents such surnames were written with the word syn ‘son’, for example, Ivánov syn ‘John’s son’ or Il’yín syn ‘Elijah’s son’; the last word was later dropped. Such names are roughly equivalent to the English or Welsh surnames Richardson or Richards.

The Russian equivalent of ‘Smith’, ‘Jones’, and ‘Brown’ (that is, the generic most often used surnames) are Ivanov, Petrov, Sidorov, or ‘Johns’, ‘Peters’, and ‘Isidores’, although Sidorov is now ranked only 66th.[11]

Sri Lanka[edit]

Many low country Sinhalese have Portuguese surnames as a result of Portuguese colonial rule in that area during the 16th and 17th centuries. Sinhalese native surnames have a Sanskrit origin. Tamils and Sri Lankan Moors have distinctive surnames for their own ethnicities.

Many Sinhalese surnames end with Singhe (Sinhalese: සිංහයා meaning lion), such as Jayasinghe, Ranasinghe, Samarasinghe.

Rank
(2014) 		Name Total Number
(2014) 		Language of origin and meaning
1 Perera 862,080 Portuguese
2 Fernando 520,965 Portuguese
3 de Silva 299,772 Portuguese
4 Bandara 227,388 Sinhalese
5 Kumara 201,695 Sinhalese
6 Dissanayake 172,612 Sinhalese
7 Mohamed 154,874 Arabic, of Sri Lankan Moor
8 Gamage 149,527 Sinhalese
9 Liyanage 143,854 Sinhalese
10 Jayasinghe 142,224 Sinhalese
11 Ranasinghe 139,680 Sinhalese
12 Herath 123,182 Sinhalese
13 Weerasinghe 122,008 Sinhalese
14 Peiris 115,944 Portuguese
15 Rathnayake 102,902 Sinhalese
16 Wickramasinghe 96,968 Sinhalese
17 Wijesinghe 94,816 Sinhalese
18 Hettiarachchi 87,512 Sinhalese
19 Nanayakkara 78,057 Sinhalese
20 Ahamed 74,601 Arabic, of Sri Lankan Moor
21 Rajapaksha 71,144 Sinhalese
22 Mendis 70,623 Portuguese
23 Pathirana 70,297 Sinhalese
24 Ekanayake 69,840 Sinhalese
25 Gunasekara 69,384 Sinhalese
26 Dias 67,623 Portuguese
27 Sampath 67,232 Sinhalese
28 Amarasinghe 64,949 Sinhalese
29 Ratnayake 59,863 Sinhalese
30 Chathuranga 58,754 Sinhalese
31 Senanayake 55,037 Sinhalese
32 Samarasinghe 54,320 Sinhalese
33 Lakmal 53,733 Sinhalese
34 Munasinghe 52,755 Sinhalese
35 Rodrigo 51,777 Portuguese
36 Seneviratne 51,581 Sinhalese
37 Rathnayaka 49,886 Sinhalese
38 Edirisinghe 48,516 Sinhalese
39 Jayawardena 48,386 Sinhalese
40 Fonseka 47,995 Portuguese
41 Sanjeewa 47,147 Sinhalese
42 Gunawardana 46,625 Sinhalese
43 Gunawardena 45,386 Sinhalese
44 Karunaratne 44,930 Sinhalese
45 Jayaweera 43,495 Sinhalese
46 Jayasekara 43,365 Sinhalese
47 Ranaweera 42,387 Sinhalese
48 Jayawardana 40,822 Sinhalese
49 Jayasuriya 40,561 Sinhalese
50 Madusanka 40,300 Sinhalese

According to a comprehensive survey of residential permits released by the Taiwanese Ministry of the Interior’s Department of Population in 2016, Taiwan has only 1,503 surnames.[12] The top ten surnames in Taiwan accounted for 52.77% of the general population, and the top 100 accounted for 96.56%.

Rank Character Romanizations %
of total
pop.
2016 Mainland
(2007) 		Mandarin Cantonese Minnan Other
Trad. Simp. Pinyin Wade Jyutping HK Other POJ Other
1 5 陳 陈 Chén Ch’en2 Can4 Chan Chun Tân Ting 11.14%
2 19 林 Lín Lin2 Lam4 Lam Lum Lîm Lim, Liem 8.31%
3 7 黃 黄 Huáng Huang2 Wong4 Wong Wang
Vang 		Ng Eng, Ung
Wee, Oei
Ooi, Uy
Bong 		6.05%
4 3 張 张 Zhāng Chang1 Zoeng1 Cheung Chong5
Cheong4		 Tiu Teo, Teoh
Tio, Thio
Tiew 		Tiong 5.27%
5 2 李 Lǐ Li3 Lei5 Lee
Li 		Le
Lei4		 Lí Lee
Lie
Dee 		5.13%
6 1 王 Wáng Wang2 Wong4 Wong Vong Ông Heng 4.11%
7 9 吳 吴 Wú Wu2 Ng4 Ng Ung4, Eng Gô͘
Ngô͘ 		Goh, Gouw Woo 4.04%
8 4 劉 刘 Liú Liu2 Lau4 Lau Lao4
Lou 		Lâu Low
Lao, Lauw 		3.16%
9 40 蔡 Cài Ts’ai4 Coi3 Choi Choy
Tsoi
Toy 		Chhoà Chua, Choa
Tjoa 		Tsay
Chai 		2.91%
10 6 楊 杨 Yáng Yang2 Joeng4 Yeung Yeong
Ieong4		 Iû Eaw
Yeo, Yeoh
Yong
Joe, Yo 		Young 2.66%

Thailand[edit]

There are no common Thai surnames. Surnames were largely introduced to Thai culture only by the 1913 Surname Act.[13] The law does not allow one to create any surname that is duplicated with any existing surnames.[14] Under Thai law, only one family can create any given surname: any two people of the same surname must be related, and it is very rare for two people to share the same full name. In one sample of 45,665 names, 81% of family names were unique.[15]

Vietnam[edit]

Due to historical contact with Chinese dynasties, Vietnamese has adopted names originating from Middle Chinese. Vietnam is in the East Asian cultural sphere.

See also[edit]

  1. ^ Most common surname in the world.
  2. ^ 2nd most common surname in the world.
  3. ^ 3rd most common surname in the world.
  4. ^ 5th most common surname in the world.
  5. ^ 4th most common in world (most popular Chinese surname in Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan, Vietnam, Singapore, Southeast Asia, and places overseas from mainland China)
  6. ^ 7th most common surname in the world.
  7. ^ 9th most common surname in the world.
  8. ^ 10th most common surname in the world.

References[edit]

  1. ^ Manougian, Harout (24 August 2020). “Armenia’s Entire Voter List is Available Online: Here’s What It Shows”. EVN Report. Archived from the original on 24 November 2022.
  2. ^ Какие самые распространенные фамилии в Азербайджане?. 1news.az (in Russian). Retrieved 19 January 2013.
  3. ^ “Most Common Last Names In Bangladesh”. Forebears: Names & Genealogy Resources.
  4. ^ a b c d Headley, Robert K. “SEAlang Library Khmer”, SEAlang Library, 05/14/2018
  5. ^ a b “公安部发布去年全国姓名报告，”王、李、张”姓排前三” 公安部发布去年全国姓名报告，“王、李、张”姓排前三. 30 January 2020. Retrieved 8 March 2020.
  6. ^ სახელებისა და გვარების სტატისტიკა [Names and surnames statistics] (in Georgian). Georgian Civil Registry Agency. Archived from the original on 9 March 2012. Retrieved 26 October 2010.
  7. ^ מרגלית, מיכל (14 January 2014). כהן, לוי וכל השאר: דירוג 500 השמות הנפוצים [Cohen, Levi and the rest: the 500 most common names]. Ynet (in Hebrew). Retrieved 15 May 2015.
  8. ^ Kaganoff, B. C. A Dictionary of Jewish Names and Their History. Schocken Books (New York), 1977. Zeichner, Saul. Kolomea Research Group. “Surnames of Interest: Origins and/or Meanings“. 3 Nov 2010. Accessed 1 Feb 2012.
  9. ^ Beider, Alexander & al. A Dictionary of Jewish Surnames. Avotaynu (New York), 1993. Zeichner, Saul. Kolomea Research Group. “Surnames of Interest: Origins and/or Meanings“. 3 Nov 2010. Accessed 1 Feb 2012.
  10. ^ Gotthard Deutsch. Jewish Encyclopedia. “Katz”. 1906. Accessed 1 Feb 2012.
  11. ^ a b c Балановская Е. В.; Балановский О. П. (2007). Русский генофонд на Русской равнине (in Russian). Moscow. pp. 165–216. ISBN 978-5-87140-267-2. See also the web version Archived 9 May 2013 at the Wayback Machine of the list.
  12. ^ 全國姓名統計分析. Ministry of the Interior, R.O.C. (Taiwan). 2016. ISBN 9789860503043.
  13. ^ “What’s in a name? The number nine, if you want”. Asian Times.[dead link]
  14. ^ รศ. ดร.นิตยา กาญจนะวรรณ. เรื่องของนามสกุล (๒) (in Thai). Royal Institute of Thailand. Archived from the original on 28 December 2014. Retrieved 28 December 2014.
  15. ^ 45,665 Thai names: Examining passlist.96 Archived 26 February 2008 at the Wayback Machine, by Doug Cooper
  16. ^ Turkish Directorate-General of Population and Citizenships Archived 26 February 2015 at the Wayback Machine
  17. ^ Lê Trung Hoa. Họ và Tên người Việt Nam. Social Sciences Publishing House.