Lang (Chinese surname)

Láng is a surname of Manchu-Chinese origin (Chinese: 郎; pinyin: Láng). It was an official title in imperial times, meaning "minister" or "councillor".^[1] According to a 2013 study, it is the 242nd most common surname, with around 370,000 or 0.028% of the total population having the name, and Hebei being the province with the most people sharing the name.^[2] It is the 48th name on the Hundred Family Surnames poem.

Origins

• Lang (郎) was the name of a city where Fei Bo (費伯), the grandson of Duke Yi of Lu lived. Some of his descendants later changed their original surname Fei to Lang (郎).^[3]
• the surname is also borne by some families from the state of the South Huns.^[3]

Additionally, during the Qing dynasty China, the Niohuru family of Manchu origin sinicized and changed their family name to Lang (郎), which sounded like "wolf" (狼, also Láng) in Mandarin Chinese, since "wolf" in the Manchu language was niohuru.^[4]

Notable people

• Lang Jingshan, photographer
• Lang Lang (born 1982), pianist
• Lang Ping (born 1960), former volleyball player and coach
• Lang Zheng (郎征; born 1986), footballer
• Lang Shining (1688–1766), Chinese name of Giuseppe Castiglione, Italian Jesuit Brother
• Lang Tzu-yun (郎祖筠; born 1965) is a Taiwanese actress
• Lang Yongchun (郎永淳; born 1971) is a former Chinese news anchor best known for his work at China Central Television

See also

Lang (surname), a surname of Germanic origin

References

1. Pleco s.v.
2. 中国四百大姓, 袁义达, 邱家儒, Beijing Book Co. Inc., 1 January 2013
3. The Oxford Dictionary of Family Names in Britain and Ireland
4. Edward J. M. Rhoads (2001). Manchus & Han: ethnic relations and political power in late Qing and early republican China, 1861-1928 (reprint, illustrated ed.). University of Washington Press. p. 56. ISBN 9780295804125. and when the ancient and politically prominent Manchu lineage of Niohuru adopted the Han-style surname Lang, he ridiculed them for having "forgotten their roots." (The Niohuru, whose name was derived from niohe, Manchu for wolf," had chosen Lang as their surname because it was a homophone for the Chinese word for "wolf.")