Yang (surname 羊)
Chinese family name
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Yang (羊) is a Chinese surname.[1] It is romanized Joeng in Cantonese romanization. According to a 2013 study, it was the 391st most common name in China; it was shared by 136,000 people, or 0.01% of the population, being most popular in Hainan.[2] It is the 202nd name in the Hundred Family Surnames poem.[3]
| Yang | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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 Cursive form of the 羊 character | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Chinese | 羊 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Literal meaning | sheep, goat | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Origins
The surname is from the Chinese 羊 meaning "goat" or "sheep."[4] Origins for the surname include:
- from yangren (羊人) the name of an official post during the Western Zhou period (1046–771 BC) who was in charge of animal sacrifices.[5]
- A shortened form of the compound surname Yangshe (羊舌) which was originally the name of a fief (located in modern Hebei) granted to an official in the state of Jin, a great-grandson of Duke Wu of Jin (ruler of the state of Jin 716–677 BC). Some of the Yangshe clan adopted the much more common surname Yang (楊/杨).[5][6]
Notable people
- Yang Hu (羊祜), Jin-era general
- Yang Xianrong (羊獻容), Jin and Former Han empress
- Yang Huiyu (羊徽瑜), Jin empress