Chen (surname)
 陳; Chén | |
| Origin | |
|---|---|
| Word/name | China |
| Meaning | after a region in Henan |
Chén (Simplified Chinese: 陈, Traditional Chinese: 陳; Wade-Giles: Ch'en) is one of the most common Chinese family names. It ranks at the 5th most popular surname in Mainland China and the most popular surname in Singapore and Taiwan. Chen is also the most common family name in Guangdong, Zhejiang, Fujian (spelt Tan in Malaysia), Hong Kong (spelt Chan in Hong Kong)and Macau. It is usually romanised as Chan in Cantonese, and sometimes as Chun. In Min (including dialects of Chaozhou (Teochow), Hainan, Fujian, and Taiwan), the name is pronounced Tan. In Hakka and Toisan, the name is spelt and pronounced as Chin. Some other Romanisations include Zen and Ding.
In Vietnam, this surname is written in Quoc Ngu as Trần, and is the second most popular Vietnamese surname, accounting for 11% of the population,[1] after the surname Nguyễn (38.4%).
Chen is also a Hebrew name used by Israelis. It is pronounced khen, and means grace or favour.
History
The initial surname Chen was from Gui (Chinese: 媯, pinyin: Gūi), which was an ancient Chinese surname of descendants of Emperor Shun, who was one of the Three August Ones and Five Emperors. When King Wu of Zhou established the Zhou Dynasty, he gave the Land of Chen to the descendants to establish their own state. To show his respect for Emperor Shun, the new state, which was also named by Chen, was one of the Three Guest States of Zhou (Chinese: 三恪, pinyin: Sān Kè), which meant this nation was not the subordinate, but the guest of Zhou. However, the Chen state was occupied by Chu after the 10th century BC. Since then, the people of this state began to use Chen as their surname.
Other pronounciations
- Chan, used in Cantonese
- Chin, used in Hakka, Taishan and Japanese
- Chun or Jin, used in Korean
- Son, used in Hainanese
- Tan (Tân), used in Teochew in Singapore, Min Nan (including Taiwanese)
- Tang, used in Teochew
- Ting or Ding, used in Fuzhou
- Trần, used in Vietnamese
- Zen, used in the Shanghainese
Prominent people
- Agnes Chan, Hong Kong singer, also famous in Japan
- Anna Chan Chennault, first female reporter for the Central News Agency
- Eason Chan, Hong Kong actor and singer
- Jackie Chan, Hong Kong actor
- Jordan Chan, Hong Kong actor and singer
- Johnny Chan, poker player
- Peter Chan, the only "Chan" listed on the Vietnam War Memoral. He served on the US Aircraft carrier USS Oriskany.
- Priscilla Chan, Hong Kong singer
- Peter P. Chen, a computer scientist, inventor of the Entity-Relationship Model
- Rulers of the Chen Dynasty
- Bruce Hwang Chen, Taiwanese-American director
- Cheer Chen, Taiwanese singer
- Chen Duxiu, Communist Party of China founder
- H. T. Chen, American dancer and choreographer
- Chen Hong, Chinese badminton player
- Jiebing Chen, erhu player
- Chen Jingrun, mathematician
- Joan Chen Chong, Chinese-American actress and film director
- Joyce Chen, Chinese-American chef and restaurateur
- Chen Kaige, Fifth Generation Chinese filmmaker
- Kelly Chen Wai-Lam, Hong Kong actress and singer
- Chen Kenichi, the only "Iron Chef Chinese" in the syndicated TV program Iron Chef
- Chen Kenmin, father of the above and a prominent Chinese chef in Japan
- Chen Lu, Figure Ice Skater
- Robert Chen, violinist, Concertmaster of Chicago Symphony Orchestra
- Chen Shanshan, Chinese classical guitarist
- Chen Shi-zheng, Chinese opera performer
- Chen Shui-bian, first non-KMT President of the Republic of China (Taiwan)
- Sisy Chen, Taiwanese politician
- Steve Chen, President and/or pride of Lansdowne
- Steve Chen, supercomputer designer
- Steve Chen (YouTube), co-founder, YouTube
- Chen Tsyr-shiou, Chairman of Taiwan Province
- Tze-Chung Chen, Taiwanese professional golfer
- Chen Yi, Communist Party of China military commander
- Chen Yi, composer
- Chen Yi, Chief executive of Taiwan Province
- Chen Yu, Chinese badminton player
- Chen Yuanyuan, concubine of Wu Sangui
- Chen Zhi, classical guitarist
- Shiing-Shen Chern, mathematician
- Arthur Chin, fighter ace
- Ming W. Chin, Associate Justice of the California Supreme Court
- Chin Peng, Long-time leader of now disbanded Malayan Communist Party
- Chin Siu Dek, aka Jimmy H. Woo, brought one of the Chinese martial arts, Tsoi Li Ho Fut Hung, or Kung Fu San Soo from Taishan to America, as noted here
- Tiffany Chin, figure skater
- Vincent Chin, victim of racial crime
- Tan Kah Kee, prominent businessman, community leader, and philanthropist in colonial Singapore and China.
- Tony Tan Keng Yam, the former Deputy Prime Minister and Co-ordinating Minister for Security and Defence of Singapore
- Tan Tjeng Bok, Indonesian theatrical actor.
- Chen Qingzhi, General of Emperor Wu of Liang, Northern and Southern Dynasty
- Rulers of the Tran Dynasty
- Charles Tran Van Lam , Minister for Foreign Affairs for The Republic of Vietnam during the height of the Vietnam War. He was one of signers of the Paris Peace Accord in 1973. Foreign minister in 1969. In 1973 he became the president of the Senate of South Vietnam
- David Tran, Vietnamese American hot sauce producer and founder of Huy Fong Foods
- Trần Đức Lương, President of Vietnam
- Tran Hieu Ngan, the first Vietnamese athlete to win a medal at the Olympic Games
- Trần Hưng Đạo, Vietnamese national hero
- Jesse Tran, owner of JesseNeo.com
- Trần Nghia, Vietnamese computer scientist
Fictional characters with surname Chen
- Charlie Chan, a fictional detective
- Chen is a fictional character in the British science fiction sitcom Red Dwarf
- Chan Ho Nam, the fictitious Hong Kong triad boss in the Young and Dangerous series
- Chen Jia Luo, Leader of the Red Lotus Sect from Chinese novel, The Book and the Sword by Jinyong
- Simon Chen/Tan Peng Liang, a character in Ca Bau Kan, a roman by Remy Sylado, an Indonesian writer.
References
- ^ Họ và tên người Việt Nam của Lê Trung Hoa, Nhà xuất bản Khoa học - Xã hội, 2005