Wāng (汪) is a

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, ...

. It was 104th of the ''

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 ...

'' poem, contained in the verse Yáo, Shào, Zhàn, Wāng (姚邵湛汪). In 2013, the Fuxi Cultural Association found the name to be the 60th most common in China, being shared by around 4.83 million people or 0.360% of the population, with the province with the largest population being

Anhui Anhui is an inland Provinces of China, province located in East China. Its provincial capital and largest city is Hefei. The province is located across the basins of the Yangtze and Huai rivers, bordering Jiangsu and Zhejiang to the east, Jiang ...

. A study of the 2020 census found it to be the 59th most common surname in mainland China. It is also Wong in Cantonese, Ong or Ang in Hokkien, Waung or Vong in American English, and Ō or Oh in Japanese. However, in Vietnamese, it is written Uông. Wāng was listed by a 2007 NCIIS survey as the 58th most common surname in mainland China and by Yang Xuxian as the 76th most common surname in Taiwan.

Origins of Wāng

means "vast" in the Chinese language, and is often used to describe oceans. In the modern

vernacular Chinese Written vernacular Chinese, also known as ''baihua'', comprises forms of written Chinese based on the vernacular varieties of the language spoken throughout China. It is contrasted with Literary Chinese, which was the predominant written form ...

, it is also the

onomatopoeia Onomatopoeia (or rarely echoism) is a type of word, or the process of creating a word, that phonetics, phonetically imitates, resembles, or suggests the sound that it describes. Common onomatopoeias in English include animal noises such as Oin ...

for the sound of a barking dog. Baxter and Sagart reconstructed it as *''qʷˤaŋ'' and '''wang'', respectively.Baxter, Wm. H. & Sagart, Laurent. '' '', p. 9. 2011. Accessed 11 October 2011. # It was originally a shortening of Wang Mang (汪芒), or Wang Wang (汪罔), name of a state in present-day Deqing County, Zhejiang. After it was conquered by a neighboring state, its inhabitants fled and the surname was shortened to Wang (汪). # The name is derived from the ancestral surname Jiang (姜).

Chinese Muslims

Unlike other

Hui people The Hui people are an East Asian ethnoreligious group predominantly composed of Islam in China, Chinese-speaking adherents of Islam. They are distributed throughout China, mainly in the Northwest China, northwestern provinces and in the Zhongy ...

who claim foreign descent, Hui in

Gansu Gansu is a provinces of China, province in Northwestern China. Its capital and largest city is Lanzhou, in the southeastern part of the province. The seventh-largest administrative district by area at , Gansu lies between the Tibetan Plateau, Ti ...

with the surname Wāng are descended from

Han Chinese The Han Chinese, alternatively the Han people, are an East Asian people, East Asian ethnic group native to Greater China. With a global population of over 1.4 billion, the Han Chinese are the list of contemporary ethnic groups, world's la ...

who converted to Islam and married Hui or

Dongxiang people The Dongxiang (autonym: '' Sarta'' or ''Santa'') are a Mongolic people and one of 56 ethnic groups officially recognized by the People's Republic of China. Half of the population live in Dongxiang Autonomous County, Linxia Prefecture, Gansu ...

. A town called Tangwangchuan in

had a multi-ethnic populace, the Tang () and Wāng families predominating. The Tang and Wang families were originally of non-Muslim Han extraction, but by the Twentieth Century some branches of the families had become Muslim by intermarriage or conversion.

Notable people

* Cecilia Wang (汪詩詩; born 1981), Hong Kong model * Wang Daohan (汪道涵; 1915–2005), Chinese diplomat and co-negotiator of the

1992 Consensus The 1992 Consensus is a political term referring to the alleged outcome of a meeting in 1992 between the semi-official representatives of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)-led People's Republic of China (PRC) in mainland China and the Kuomintang ...

Wang Dazhi Wang Dazhi (; April 21, 1903 – March 27, 1980) was a Chinese educator. Biography Wang Dazhi was born in Yi County, Anhui in 1903. He attended the Nanjing Xiaozhuang Normal College, which was founded by Tao Xingzhi. After graduating in 192 ...

(汪达之; 1903–1980), Chinese educator * Wang Deyao (汪德耀; 1903–2000), Chinese cell biologist *

Wang Dongxing Wang Dongxing (; 9 January 1916 – 21 August 2015) was a Chinese military commander and politician, famous for being the chief of Mao Zedong's personal bodyguard force, the 9th Bureau of the Ministry of Public Security (which included the '' 8 ...

(汪东兴; 1916–2015), Chinese military commander and politician * Wang Fang (汪芳; pen name Fang Fang, born 1955), Chinese author * Wang Feng (汪峰; born 1971), Chinese rock musician and composer * Frank Wang (汪滔; born 1980), Chinese engineer, entrepreneur, founder and CEO of DJI * Wang Haijian (汪海健; born 2000), Chinese footballer * Wang Han (汪涵; born 1974), Chinese television variety show host * Helen Kay Wang (née Below; 汪海岚; born 1965), English sinologist and translator * Wang Hui (汪晖; born 1959), Chinese professor in the Department of Chinese Language and Literature,

Tsinghua University Tsinghua University (THU) is a public university in Haidian, Beijing, China. It is affiliated with and funded by the Ministry of Education of China. The university is part of Project 211, Project 985, and the Double First-Class Constructio ...

Irene Wang Irene Wang Yuen Yuen (born March 27, 1986) is a Hong Kong model and actress. Wang was known for her roles in the films ''Flash Point'' and '' The Monkey King''. Early life Wang was born as Wang Yuen Yuen in Lima, Peru on 27 March 1986. Wang' ...

(汪圓圓; born 1986), Hong Kong model and actress * Wang Jiajie (汪佳捷; born 1988), Chinese footballer * Jianping Wang (汪建平), Chinese computer scientist *

Wang Jingwei Wang Zhaoming (4 May 188310 November 1944), widely known by his pen name Wang Jingwei, was a Chinese politician who was president of the Reorganized National Government of the Republic of China, a puppet state of the Empire of Japan. He was in ...

(汪精衞; 1883–1944) Chinese politician, former Kuomintang officer and later Japanese collaborator * Wang Jinxian (汪晋贤; born 1996), Chinese footballer *

Jiro Wang Jiro Wang (; born August 24, 1981) is a Taiwanese singer and actor, who started his career as a model. Wang is a member of Taiwanese Mandopop vocal quartet boy band Fahrenheit. Life Jiro Wang was born August 24, 1981, in Taiwan. He graduat ...

(汪東城; born 1981), Taiwanese singer and actor *

Liza Wang Elizabeth "Liza" Wang Ming-chun Gold Bauhinia Star, GBS Silver Bauhinia Star, SBS (born 28 August 1947), is a Hong Kong diva, actress and Master of Ceremonies, MC. She is a personality in Chinese-speaking communities. She has been nicknamed "The ...

(汪明荃; born 1947), Hong Kong diva, actress, MC * Wang Qiang (汪强; born 1984), Chinese international footballer *

Wang Shun Wang Shun ( zh, s=汪顺, t=汪順, hp=Wāng Shùn; born 11 February 1994) is a Chinese competitive swimmer. A versatile medley swimmer, he became the first Asian male swimmer to win a gold medal at the men's 200m individual medley at the Olymp ...

(汪顺; born 1994), Chinese competitive swimmer *

Silence Wang Silence Wang ( zh, s=汪苏泷, t=汪蘇瀧, p=Wāng Sūlóng; born 17 September 1989) is a Chinese singer-songwriter and record producer. He made his debut with the album ''Dreams Come True'' () on 19 November 2010, and has now released 11 al ...

(汪蘇瀧; born 1989), Chinese pop singer-songwriter and record producer * Wang Song (汪嵩; born 1983), Chinese footballer * Wang Tao (汪涛; born 1962), Chinese–British archaeologist and art historian specialising in early Chinese art * Wang Tao (汪涛), Chinese economist *

Wang Weifan Wang Weifan (; 1927–2015) was an evangelical Christian leader of the state-sanctioned Protestant church of mainland China, the Three-Self Patriotic Movement. He was well-loved as a preacher, theologian, and devotional writer. Biography Wang W ...

(汪維藩; 1927-2015), Chinese evangelical Christian leader of the state-sanctioned *

Wang Xiaofeng Wang Xiaofeng (; born October 1944) is a retired Chinese politician. He was born in Cili County, Hunan. Wang graduated from the China University of Mining and Technology and joined the Chinese Communist Party in May 1965. He has served as the de ...

(汪嘯風; born 1944), Chinese retired politician * Wang Yang (汪洋; born 1955), Chinese retired politician * Wang You (汪猷; 1910–1997), Chinese biochemist, pioneer of antibiotics and biochemistry studies in China *

Chloe Bennet Chloé Wang (; born April 18, 1992), known professionally as Chloe Bennet, is an American actress, model and singer. She starred as Daisy Johnson / Quake in the ABC superhero drama series '' Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.'' (2013–2020) and voiced Yi ...

, (汪可盈; born 1992 as Chloé Wang), American actress and singer * John Clang (汪春龙; born 1973 as Ang Choon Leng), American-based Singaporean artist * Xu Yulan (汪玉蘭; born Wang Yulan, 1921 – 2017), Yue opera singer-actress

References

{{surname Individual Chinese surnames