In Chinese the family name always precedes the given name. In total, there are only around one hundred surnames in use. This table shows some of the more commonly used Chinese family names. The names are shown in Chinese, Pinyin and English. Examples of some famous people are also given.
| Chinese | Pinyin | English | Examples |
|---|---|---|---|
| 艾 | Ai | 艾未未 - artist | |
| 白 | Bai | 白灵 - actress | |
| 包 | Bao | ||
| 贝 | Bei | ||
| 陈 | Chen | 陈冲 - actress | |
| 邓 | Deng | 邓小平 - politician | |
| 杜 | Du | ||
| 冯 | Feng | 冯小刚 - director | |
| 付 | Fu | ||
| 高 | Gao | ||
| 顾 | Gu | ||
| 何 | He | ||
| 胡 | Hu | 胡锦涛 - president of China | |
| 华 | Hua | ||
| 姬 | Ji | ||
| 金 | Jin | ||
| 柯 | Ke | ||
| 孔 | Kong | 孔夫子 - philosopher | |
| 赖 | Lai | ||
| 李 | Li | ||
| 林 | Lin | ||
| 刘 | Liu | ||
| 吕 | Lu | ||
| 孟 | Meng | ||
| 桑 | Sang | ||
| 孙 | Sun | 孙悟空 - fictional Monkey King | |
| 田 | Tian | ||
| 王 | Wang | ||
| 魏 | Wei | ||
| 温 | Wen | 温家宝 - Premier of China | |
| 吴 | Wu | ||
| 习 | Xi | 习近平 - Vice President of China | |
| 夏 | Xia | ||
| 谢 | Xie | ||
| 徐 | Xu | ||
| 杨 | Yang | 杨利伟 - Chinese astronaut | |
| 叶 | Ye | ||
| 张 | Zhang | 张艺谋 - director | |
| 周 | Zhou | 周迅 - actress | |
| 朱 | Zhu | 朱镕基 - former Premier of China |
Learn the proper use of Chinese names in Lesson Two: What’s Your Name?