In 2008, ()

pinyin Hanyu Pinyin (), often shortened to just pinyin, is the official romanization system for Standard Mandarin Chinese in China, and to some extent, in Singapore and Malaysia. It is often used to teach Mandarin, normally written in Chinese for ...

''Yán'' was estimated to be the 75th most common surname in the People's Republic of China, shared by around 3.1 million citizens, making it the most common of the surnames written “Yan” without tone markers. The surname 闫 (閆 in traditional), also Yán, was created as a result of the

Second round of simplified Chinese characters The second round of Chinese character simplification, according to the official document, Second Chinese Character Simplification Scheme (Draft) ("Second Scheme" or "Second Round" for short) to introduce a second round of simplified Chinese char ...

, in 1977. Although this series of simplifications was soon retracted, some people retained the simplified surname. One source even suggests that 阎 now more common, as it is shared by 4,900,000 people, and the 78th-most common name, compared to 闫, shared by 3,200,000 people, or the 103rd most common name. Both appear on the '' Hundred Family Surnames'' poem. It may be derived from one of the following sources: * from a fief located around

Xihua County Xihua County () is a county in the east-central part of Henan province, China. It is under the administration of the prefecture-level city of Zhoukou Zhoukou (; Postal romanization, postal: Chowkow) is a prefecture-level city in eastern Henan pr ...

, Henan, granted to Zhong Yi, a great-grandson of

Taibo Taibo () (circa 1150 BCE), or Wu Taibo, was the eldest son of King Tai of Zhou and the legendary founder of the State of Wu. His exact birth and death dates are unknown. Biography According to Sima Qian, Taibo was the founder of the State of Wu. ...

, by

King Wu of Zhou King Wu of Zhou () was the first king of the Zhou dynasty of ancient China. The chronology of his reign is disputed but is generally thought to have begun around 1046 BC and ended three years later in 1043 BC. King Wu's ancestral name was ...

. Another source claims the fief was granted by King Kang of Zhou to his eldest son * from a fief (located around the town of Yanjing in

Shanxi Shanxi (; ; formerly romanised as Shansi) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China and is part of the North China region. The capital and largest city of the province is Taiyuan, while its next most populated prefecture-lev ...

) granted to Yi, the prince of Jin during the Spring and Autumn period.The Oxford Dictionary of Family Names in Britain and Ireland edited by Patrick Hanks, Richard Coates, Peter McClure

Notable people

* 阎崇年

Yan Chongnian Yan Chongnian is a Chinese historian. He was born in Penglai City, Shandong, China in 1934. He established Beijing Manchu Institute, the first academic institute focussed on the Manchu history. His publications include ''Biography of Yuan ...

(born 1934) Chinese historian * 阎芳 Yan Fang, Chinese softball player * Yan Feng (athlete) Chinese paralympic athlete competing in throwing events * 阎红 Yan Hong, Chinese race walker * 阎连科

Yan Lianke Yan may refer to: Chinese states * Yan (state) (11th century – 222 BC), a major state in northern China during the Zhou dynasty * Yan (Han dynasty kingdom), first appearing in 206 BC * Yan (Three Kingdoms kingdom), officially claimed inde ...

(born 1958), Chinese writer of novels and short stories * 阎肃

Yan Su Yan Su (; 9 May 1930 – 12 February 2016) was a Chinese playwright and lyricist who served as vice-president of China Theatre Association. He held the civilian rank equivalent to general in the PLA Air Force Political Department Song and Dance Tr ...

(1930-2016), Chinese lyricist and screenwriter * 阎森 Yan Sen (born 1975), Chinese table tennis player * 阎世鹏 Yan Shipeng (born 1987), Chinese football player * 阎嵩 Yan Song (footballer) (born 1981), Chinese footballer * 阎维文 Yan Weiwen (born 1957), Chinese opera singer with origins in the People's Liberation Army * 阎相闯 Yan Xiangchuang, Chinese professional footballer * 閻錫山 Yan Xishan (1883–1960), warlord * 阎学通

Yan Xuetong Yan Xuetong (born 7 December 1952) is a Chinese political scientist and serves as a distinguished professor and dean of the Institute of International Relations at Tsinghua University. Yan is one of the major Chinese figures in the study of intern ...

(born 1952), Dean of the Institute of Modern International Relations at Tsinghua University

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Yan Individual Chinese surnames