Yan (surname)

Yan is a surname in several languages and the pinyin romanization for several Chinese surnames, including "严 (嚴)", "晏 (晏)", "偃 (偃)", "颜 (顏)", "言 (言)", "燕 (燕)", "阎 (閻)", "闫 (閆)", "鄢 (鄢)" in simplified (traditional) form.

These characters are romanised as Yen in the Wade–Giles romanization system which was commonly used before the early 80s. As such, individuals and institutions who had to romanize their Chinese names prior to that time, such as when having their books translated or publishing manuscripts outside of China, used "Yen" instead of "Yan". Such examples include Yenching University and the Harvard-Yenching Institute. The Yan surname in Taiwan is mostly spelled as Yen since only until recently has the government approved the use of pinyin romanization of names. The Cantonese romanization of these surnames is "Yim". As such, most people from Hong Kong and Chinese diaspora that emigrated prior to 1949 from Guangdong use the name Yim.

On many occasions, the surname "甄 (甄)" is also romanized as Yan in Cantonese. This name in Mandarin is romanized as Zhēn, see Zhen (surname).

Yan is also an alternative spelling of the Breton name Yann.

Latin alphabet

严 (嚴)
Further information: Yan (surname 严)

阎 (閻)
Main article: Yan (surname 阎)

闫 (閆)
闫 / 閆
RomanizationYan

Yan (simplified Chinese: 闫; traditional Chinese: 閆), pinyin Yán, originated as a variant of the surname 閻.

Notable people

顏 (颜)
Main article: Yan (surname 顏)

Yan You was the first king of the Xiao Zhu state and was originally known as Cao You. His ancestor was called Yan An who inherited a piece of land, which later flourished into the Zhu Kingdom, a feudal state of Lu Guo. According to the judicial rules of that time, Cao You had to give up his surname in order to ascend the throne. He adopted his father Yi Fu's style name Bo Yan. From then on Cao You was known as Yan You. This officially made Yan You the first Yan in Chinese history.[1] Zhuanxu was subsequently claimed as an ancestor by Cao (曹).

晏
晏
RomanizationYan
Origin
Language(s)Chinese
Meaninglate, quiet

The surname 晏 (Yàn) is relatively uncommon; in 2008 it was the 202nd most common surname in China, shared by around 470,000 citizens. It has three main historical origins:

Near 600 BC, the minister Yan Ruo (晏弱) of the state of Qi took Yan as his last name after he was assigned to govern the town of Yan (modern day town of Yancheng of Qihe county of Shandong province).

According to the Records of the Grand Historian, the name of the fifth son of Zhuanxu was Yang'an (阳安) who chose to use the surname 晏 for his descendants.

According to the Classic of Mountains and Seas, Yan Long (晏龙), a minister of Emperor Yao is the earliest ancestor of the Yan surname on record.

Notable People

延
延

Yan (延) is a Chinese surname. It has various origins:

燕
See also: Former Yan and Yan (state)

Yan (燕) is a Chinese surname. It has various origins:

Burmese (ရန်ရ)
ရန်ရ
RomanizationYan
  • Yan Aung Kyaw (born 1989), Burmese footballer for Myanmar national football team
  • Yan Aung Win (born 1992), Burmese footballer for Myanmar national football team
  • Yan Paing (born 1983), Burmese footballer for Myanmar national football team
  • Yan Yan Chan, Burmese singer

Breton and French-speaking people
  • Yan' Dargent (1824-1899), painter
  • Yan Greub (1972), romanist
  • Yan England (1981), actor
  • Yan Moran (1954), photographer
  • Yan Kouton (1971), writer
  • Yan Valery (1999), football player

References
  1. "Gan Heritage Centre China Chapter - Gan Heritage Centre". Google Arts & Culture. Retrieved 2020-10-24.
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