Zheng (surname)

Zheng
PronunciationZhèng (Mandarin Pinyin)
Zeng6 (Cantonese Jyutping)
Tēⁿ (Hokkien and Teochew Pe̍h-ōe-jī)
Dâng (Hokchew Bàng-uâ-cê)
Language(s)Chinese
Origin
MeaningName of an ancient state in Henan province
Region of originChina
Other names
Variant form(s)Chung, Jung, Jeong (Korean)
Saetae (Thai)
Trịnh (Vietnamese)

Zheng (simplified Chinese: ; traditional Chinese: ; pinyin: Zhèng; Wade–Giles: Cheng4, [ʈʂə́ŋ] ) is a Chinese surname. It is the 7th name on the Hundred Family Surnames poem. In 2006, Zheng ranked 21st in China's list of top 100 most common surnames. Zheng belongs to the second major group of ten surnames which makes up more than 10% of the Chinese population.[1][2][3] Zheng was a major surname of the rich and powerful during China's Tang dynasty.[4]

In Republic of China (Taiwan) and Hong Kong, the name is normally romanized as Cheng or Tcheng (occasionally romanized as Chang in Hong Kong although that variant is more commonly used for another Chinese name, Zhang). In Malaysia, Cheng is commonly romanized as Cheng, Cheang, Chang, Tay, Tee and Teh. It is spelled as Tay in Singapore, The in Indonesia, and Ty in Philippines,[5] from the Hakka, Hokkien and Teochew pronunciation of the character. It is also romanized as Dang from Hokchew.

The surname also has taken form outside of Chinese societies: in Korean, the name is written 정 and transliterated as Jeong, Jung, or Chung. It is the fifth most common Korean surname (after Kim, Lee, Park, and Choi), with about 4.85% of the South Korean population (2,230,611 people) having this name.[citation needed]

  1. ^ National Natural Science Foundation, China. Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences. China renews top 100 surnames, Li still the biggest, People's Daily, January 11, 2006.
  2. ^ Consulate-General of the People's Republic of China in Houston, Texas
  3. ^ Origins of Chinese Names By Chunjiang Fu, Asiapac Editorial, Wei Lin Chua, Joo Ling Choong Published by Asiapac Books Pte Ltd, 2007; ISBN 981-229-462-7, ISBN 978-981-229-462-3; p. 37 [dead link]
  4. ^ Origins of Chinese Names By Chunjiang Fu, Asiapac Editorial, Wei Lin Chua, Joo Ling Choong Published by Asiapac Books Pte Ltd, 2007; ISBN 981-229-462-7, ISBN 978-981-229-462-3; p. 36 [dead link]
  5. ^ Setyautama, Sam; Mihardja, Suma (2008). Tokoh-tokoh Etnis Tionghoa di Indonesia [Ethnic Chinese Figures in Indonesia] (in Indonesian). Jakarta: Gramedia. ISBN 978-979-9101-25-9.