Ning (surname)

Ning is the romanisation of the Chinese surnames 寧 Níng and its variant 甯 Nìng. After the introduction of simplified characters, both names were written as 宁 in Mainland China until 2000, when the character 甯 was restored as an accepted variant for people whose family had originally used that character. However, usage of 甯 remains rare, with most continuing to use 宁.

Ning
Ning surname in regular script
RomanizationNíng (Mandarin)
PronunciationNíng (Pinyin)
Language(s)Chinese
Origin
Language(s)Old Chinese
Meaning"peaceful"
Other names
Derivative(s)Ninh (Vietnamese)

Its literal meaning is "peaceful". The surname appears in the Hundred Family Surnames, but is relatively uncommon in modern times. In 2008, research by the Chinese Office of Public Security estimated that around 710,000 people in China shared the surname 宁, making it the 173rd most common surname in the People's Republic of China.[1] Worldwide, the number of people with the surname Ning may be over 800,000.[2]

Chinese

The ancient origins of this surname are thought to begin with an official called Ji Wei in the era of the Zhou dynasty, who was given command over the county of Ningyi, which included the current regions of Huojia County and Xiuwu County in Henan. The descendants of Ji Wei adopted the geographical name of Ningyi as his surname in commemoration of his settlement.

The surname today appears in many areas of China, although there are a notable handful of towns in Guangxi which each have over 10,000 people surnamed Ning, specifically: Yandun, Taiping and Xinxu in Lingshan County, Xiaojian in Pubei County and Nalin in Bobai County.[3]

Ninh (Vietnamese)

The modern Vietnamese surname Ninh, derived from 寧 or 甯, has existed since at least the era of the Dinh dynasty, with historical mentions of a general called Ninh Huu Hung (939-1019), reputed to have overseen the construction of Hoa Lu, the ancient capital of Vietnam) and seen by Vietnamese as the father of carpentry and wood carving.

Notable people with the surname 宁/寧

Ning (Chinese)

Ninh (Vietnamese)

See also

References
  1. List of 300 most common Chinese surnames, 数据来自公安部身份证数据库 2008
  2. Ning Families Website
  3. Ning Families website
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