Shēn is the

pinyin Hanyu Pinyin, or simply pinyin, officially the Chinese Phonetic Alphabet, is the most common romanization system for Standard Chinese. ''Hanyu'' () literally means 'Han Chinese, Han language'—that is, the Chinese language—while ''pinyin' ...

romanization In linguistics, romanization is the conversion of text from a different writing system to the Latin script, Roman (Latin) script, or a system for doing so. Methods of romanization include transliteration, for representing written text, and tra ...

of the

Chinese surname Chinese surnames are used by Han Chinese and Sinicization, Sinicized ethnic groups in Greater China, Korea, Vietnam and among overseas Chinese communities around the world such as Singapore and Malaysia. Written Chinese names begin with surnames, ...

. Shen is the 298th surname in the

Song A song is a musical composition performed by the human voice. The voice often carries the melody (a series of distinct and fixed pitches) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs have a structure, such as the common ABA form, and are usu ...

-era ''

Hundred Family Surnames The ''Hundred Family Surnames'' (), commonly known as ''Bai Jia Xing'', also translated as ''Hundreds of Chinese Surnames'', is a classic Chinese language , Chinese text composed of common Chinese surnames. An unknown author compiled the book ...

''.

Romanisation

申 is romanised as Shin () in Korean and Thân in Vietnamese.

Distribution

Shen is unlisted among the 100 most common surname in

mainland China "Mainland China", also referred to as "the Chinese mainland", is a Geopolitics, geopolitical term defined as the territory under direct administration of the People's Republic of China (PRC) in the aftermath of the Chinese Civil War. In addit ...

in 2007 or among the 100 most common surnames on

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

in 2005. Likewise, although Chinese make up the largest part of America's Asian and Pacific Islander population,United States Census Bureau.
Census 2000: Chinese Largest Asian Group in the United States
. 4 Mar 2002. Accessed 29 Mar 2012. none of the romanizations of 申 appeared among the 1000 most common surnames during the AD 2000 US census.

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...

.
Genealogy Data: Frequently Occurring Surnames from Census 2000
". 27 Sept 2011. Accessed 29 Mar 2012. Nonetheless, it is regionally popular in the

Jiangsu Jiangsu is a coastal Provinces of the People's Republic of China, province in East China. It is one of the leading provinces in finance, education, technology, and tourism, with its capital in Nanjing. Jiangsu is the List of Chinese administra ...

and

Zhejiang ) , translit_lang1_type2 = , translit_lang1_info2 = ( Hangzhounese) ( Ningbonese) (Wenzhounese) , image_skyline = 玉甑峰全貌 - panoramio.jpg , image_caption = View of the Yandang Mountains , image_map = Zhejiang i ...

region around the mouth of the

Yangtze River The Yangtze or Yangzi ( or ) is the longest river in Eurasia and the third-longest in the world. It rises at Jari Hill in the Tanggula Mountains of the Tibetan Plateau and flows including Dam Qu River the longest source of the Yangtze, i ...

. In Korea Shin is the 13th most common surname (sorted by Hanja character).

Origin

As is common with Chinese surnames, the modern Shen family arose from various unrelated sources. One origin of the Shen was the state of Shen (申) established by the Si ()

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

during the

Xia dynasty The Xia dynasty (; ) is the first dynasty in traditional Chinese historiography. According to tradition, it was established by the legendary figure Yu the Great, after Emperor Shun, Shun, the last of the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors, Fiv ...

. During the early

Zhou dynasty The Zhou dynasty ( ) was a royal dynasty of China that existed for 789 years from until 256 BC, the longest span of any dynasty in Chinese history. During the Western Zhou period (771 BC), the royal house, surnamed Ji, had military ...

, the state of Jiang conquered this Shen and its people migrated south to Shenlu in Chu, adopting Shen as their clan name. Another origin of the Shen was with a second state of Shen (also 申). This Shen was originally ruled by the Ying dynasty, who claimed descent from a son of the Ku Emperor named Shishen. When this Shen was destroyed by King Zhao of Zhou, its rulers and vassals also adopted Shen as their clan name. A third state of Shen (also 申) was ruled by a

cadet branch A cadet branch consists of the male-line descendants of a monarch's or patriarch's younger sons ( cadets). In the ruling dynasties and noble families of much of Europe and Asia, the family's major assets (realm, titles, fiefs, property and incom ...

of the Zhou royal family, whose ancestral name was Jiang (姜), and arose from territory granted to King Xuan's maternal uncle from the lands of the former state of Xie. This land's rulers and people also ended in adopting the region as their clan name following its destruction.

Notable people

Shen Baoxu Shen Baoxu ( zh, 申包胥, ) was a courtier of the Chu state during the Spring and Autumn period. Serving King Ping of Chu and King Zhao of Chu, he defended Chu from invasion by Wu, supported by Shen's friend Wu Zixu. When Chu was conquere ...

(申包胥; fl. 506 BCE), Chu State courtier *

Shen Buhai Shen Buhai (; ) was a Chinese statesman, reformer and diplomat. According to the Shiji, Shen Buhai served as Chancellor of the Han state under Marquis Zhao of Han, for around fifteen years to his natural death in office in 337 BC, ordering it ...

(申不害; c. 400 BC–c. 337 BC), Zheng State statesman, reformer, diplomat * Shen Dan (申耽; died after 220), Han Dynasty warlord and military general * Shen Fan (申凡; born 1952), Chinese contemporary artist * Shen Jilan (申纪兰; 1929–2020), Chinese politician * Shen Liming (申黎明; born 1964), Chinese politician * Shen Maomao (申毛毛; born 1957), Chinese former javelin thrower * Shen Panwen (申泮文; 1916–2017), Chinese chemist * Shen Shixing (申時行; 1535–1614), Ming Dynasty politician and academic * Shen Si (申思; born 1973), Chinese former footballer * Shen Weichen (申维辰; born 1956), Chinese former politician * Shen Xue (申雪; born 1978), Chinese retired pair skater, Olympic gold medalist * Shen Yang (Eighteen Kingdoms) (申陽), Kingdom of Henan ruler * Shen Yi (Three Kingdoms) (申儀; died after 227), Han Dynasty warlord and military general * Shen Yunpu (申云浦; 1916–1991), Chinese politician * Zhongwei Shen (申仲伟; born c. 1964), Chinese-American mathematician

References

{{surname Chinese-language surnames Individual Chinese surnames