Chen

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Chen
Family name
陳,陈; Chén
Meaning	after a region in Henan

Chén (simplified Chinese: 陈; traditional Chinese: 陳; pinyin: Chén; Wade-Giles: Ch'en) is one of the most common Chinese family names. It ranks at the 5th most popular surname in China and the most popular surname in Singapore and Taiwan. Chen is also the most common family name in Guangdong, Zhejiang, Fujian (spelt Chan, Chin or Tan in Singapore and 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 spelled and pronounced as Chin. Some other Romanisations include Zen (from Wu), Ding and Chern.

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%).

According to an unofficial count undertaken by the American company infoUSA, "Chan" is the 19th most common surname (and the third most common Chinese surname) found in Canadian telephone directories.^[2]

History

The initial surname Chen was from Gui (traditional 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.

During the Northern and Southern Dynasties (420-589), Emperor Wu of Chen established the Chen Dynasty (557-589), the fourth and the last of the Southern dynasties in China, eventually destroyed by the Sui Dynasty.

Other pronunciations

• Sen, Chen, used in Limbu, Limbuwan
• Chen, used in Mandarin
• Chan, used in Cantonese
• Chin, used in Taishanese, Hakka and Japanese
• Chun or Jin, used in Korean
• Son, used in Hainanese
• Tan, used in Teochew in Singapore, Malaysia, Min Nan (including Taiwanese), and Hainanese
• Tang, used in Teochew
• Ting or Ding, used in Fuzhou
• Trần, used in Vietnamese
• Zen, used in the Shanghainese

Notable people

• Vincent "Randy" Chin, founder of VP Records
• Danny Chan, Hong Kong actor, singer and composer
• Priscilla Chan, Hong Kong singer
• Moses Chan, Hong Kong actor and model
• Fala Chen, Hong Kong actress and model
• Agnes Chan, Hong Kong singer, also famous in Japan
• Frankie Chan, nephew of Brian Leung
• Jackie Chan, Hong Kong actor; his parents Charles and Lee-Lee Chan and son Jaycee Chan
• Jordan Chan, Hong Kong actor and singer
• Johnny Chan, poker player
• Patrick Chan, Canadian figure skater
• Peter Chan, the only "Chan" listed on the Vietnam War Memorial. He served on the U.S. aircraft carrier USS Oriskany.
• Vincy Chan, Cantopop singer from Hong Kong
• Rola Chen (Yi Chen), Chinese-born Japanese gravure idol
• Wing-tsit Chan, a Chinese scholar
• Peter P. Chen, a computer scientist, inventor of the Entity-Relationship Model
• Rulers of the Chen Dynasty
• Bruce Chen - Panamanian Major League player
• Christine Chen, former Emmy award winning journalist and CEO of Chen Communications
• Cheer Chen, Taiwanese singer
• Chen Duxiu, Communist Party of China founder
• Edison Chen, Canadian born Hong Kong singer
• Eason Chan, Hong Kong actor and singer
• Edward Chen, South African Engineer
• Jason Chan, Actor
• 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
• Julie Chen, American television personality and news anchor
• 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 Shaoguo, Chinese race walker
• 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, co-founder, YouTube
• Tan Tin Boon (Chan Tin-Mun), Singaporean actor
• Chen Tsyr-shiou, Chairman of Taiwan Province
• Tze-Chung Chen, Taiwanese professional golfer
• Chen Xiaoxu, the most famous Lin Daiyu actress
• Chen Yi, Communist Party of China military commander
• Chen Yi, composer
• Chen Yi, Chief executive of Taiwan Province
• Chen Yu (badminton), 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
• Tiffany Chin, figure skater
• 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
• Lucio Tan, Filipino-Chinese business man. Owner of flag carrier, Philippine Airlines.
• Trần Mạnh Khoa
• Trần Đức Lương
• Trần Dynasty
• Later Trần Dynasty
• Tran Hieu Ngan
• Trần Hưng Đạo
• Tran Kim Tuyen
• Madame Ngo Dinh Nhu (born Trần Lệ Xuân)
• Tran My Van
• Trần Nhân Tông
• Tran Thai Tong
• Tran Thanh Tong
• Trần Thị Thùy Dung
• Tran Thien Khiem
• Trần Thủ Độ
• Tran Thu Ha
• Tran Trong Kim
• Tran Tu Binh
• Trần Văn Hữu
• Tran Van Huong
• Trần Văn Khắc
• Charles Tran Van Lam
• Tran Van Minh
• Tran Van Thuy
• Trần Văn Trà

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 Jialuo, protagonist of the Wuxia novel The Book and the Sword by Jin Yong
• Simon Chen/Tan Peng Liang, a character in Ca Bau Kan, a roman by Remy Sylado, an Indonesian writer.
• Detective Grace Chen, a central character in Martial Law, played by Kelly Hu.
• Chen, the Holy Knight, a character in the Warcraft III custom map Dota.
• Chen Jin,Badminton Player Of China
• Chen Stormstout, a hero in Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne
• Chen, a character in the Touhou Project game series.

References

External links

• Chinese surname history: Chen