Song (Chinese surname)

Song is the pinyin transliteration of the Chinese family name 宋. It is transliterated as Sung in Wade-Giles, and Soong is also a common transliteration. In addition to being a common surname, it is also the name of a Chinese dynasty, the Song Dynasty, written with the same character.

Song
Song character in ancient script on top, modern script at bottom
PronunciationSòng (Mandarin)
Language(s)Chinese
Origin
Language(s)Old Chinese
Other names
Variant form(s)Sung, Soong, Tống

In 2019 it was again the 24th most common surname in Mainland China.[1]

History

The first written record of the character 宋 was found on the oracle bones of the Shang dynasty.

In the written records of Chinese history, the first time the character Song was used as a surname appeared in the early stage of the Zhou dynasty. One of the children of the last emperor of Shang dynasty, Wei ZiQi - (子啟, ZiQi, was a duke named Song. The State of Song, Song's personal dominion, became part of the Zhou dynasty after the fall of the Shang dynasty. Citizens of the former State of Song, to commemorate the overthrow of their state in 286 BC by the State of Qi, began to use the character Song as their surname.

Variations

A less common Chinese family name (崇 pinyin Chóng) can also be transliterated to Soong in some Chinese dialects.

The surname is also used in Korea.

In Vietnam, the surname is pronounced as Tống.

Notable people

Fictional characters

See also
  • Song (Korean name)
  • Brenda Song, b. 1988, 熊 (original surname Xiong (熊; Xyooj in Hmong), but changed their last name to Song when the family immigrated to the United States

References
  1. http://www.bjnews.com.cn/news/2020/01/20/676822.html
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