Chinese compound surname

A Chinese compound surname is a Chinese surname using more than one character. Many of these compound surnames derive from Zhou dynasty Chinese noble and official titles, professions, place names and other areas, to serve a purpose. Some are originally from non-Chinese tribes that lived in ancient China, while others were created by joining two one-character family names. Only a few of these names (e.g. Ouyang [歐陽/欧阳], Shangguan [上官], Sima [司馬/司马], Zhuge [諸葛/诸葛], Situ [司徒], Xiahou [夏侯], Huangfu [皇甫], and Huyan [呼延]) can still be found quite commonly in modern times with Ouyang, Shangguan, Sima and Situ appearing most frequently. Many clans eventually took on a single-character surname for various reasons. Chinese surnames with more than two characters are mostly not of ethnic Chinese origin (e.g. Manchurian or Mongolian), and are becoming exceedingly rare to find, but are still in use today.

In modern times, some families are now combining the surnames of the parents to create new names. Some examples of notable clans include Changchien.