Chén () 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 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 spelt and pronounced as Chin. Some other Romanisations include Zen, Ding and Chern

In Vietnam, this surname is written in Quoc Ngu as Tr?n, and is the second most popular Vietnamese surname, accounting for 11% of the population,^[1] after the surname Nguy?n (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 (), 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 (), 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

• Chen, used in Mandarin
• 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), and Hainanese
• Tang, used in Teochew
• Ting or Ding, used in Fuzhou
• Tr?n, used in Vietnamese
• Zen, used in the Shanghainese

Prominent people

• Fala Chen, Hong Kong actress and model
• 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
• 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 .
• Priscilla Chan, Hong Kong singer
• Vincy Chan, Cantopop singer from Hong Kong
• Wing-tsit Chan, a Chinese scholar
• Yau Hwa Chan, US badminton player
• 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
• Edison Chen, Canadian born Hong Kong singer
• H. T. Chen, American dancer and choreographer
• Chen Hong, Chinese badminton player
• Jiebing Chen, erhu player
• Rubin Chen, The God
• Chen Jingrun, mathematician
• William Chan Wai Liam, founder of Asia's leading art and design collectives,:Phunk Studio
• Joan Chen Chong, Chinese-American actress and film director
• Joyce Chen, Chinese-American chef and restaurateur
• Julie Chen, American television personality and news anchor
• Sara Baiyu Chen, Chinese-American singer-songwriter, dancer, and actress
• 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
• Jackson Tan Tzun Tat, founder of Asia's leading art and design collectives, :Phunk Studio
• Steve Chen, President and/or pride of Lansdowne
• Steve Chen, supercomputer designer
• Steve Chen (YouTube), 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, 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
• Alvin Tan Boon Siang, founder of Asia's leading art and design collectives, :Phunk Studio
• 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
• 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.
• Tan Shu Yi, three time winner of most dramatic cinema audience, South East Asia region (2005 - 2008)
• Chen Qingzhi, General of Emperor Wu of Liang, Northern and Southern Dynasty
• Chen Lie San / Sandra Dewi, Indonesian Actress

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.
• 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

References

External links

• Chinese surname history: Chen

id:Chen (marga) nl:Chen ja:? (?) vi:Tr?n zh:??

---

Source: Wikipedia | The above article is available under the GNU FDL. | Edit this article