Kong () is a Chinese and

Korean Korean may refer to: People and culture * Koreans, people from the Korean peninsula or of Korean descent * Korean culture * Korean language **Korean alphabet, known as Hangul or Korean **Korean dialects **See also: North–South differences in t ...

surname. It can also be written as Kong in Taiwan, Hung in Hong Kong, Khổng in Vietnam, and Gong in Korea. There are around 2.1 million people with this surname in China in 2002, representing 0.23% of the population. In 2024, it was the 98th-most common surname in China. It is the 25th name in the ''

Hundred Family Surnames The ''Hundred Family Surnames'' (), commonly known as ''Bai Jia Xing'', also translated as ''Hundreds of Chinese Surnames'', is a classic Chinese language , Chinese text composed of common Chinese surnames. An unknown author compiled the book ...

'' poem. Kong is most notable as the surname of

Confucius Confucius (; pinyin: ; ; ), born Kong Qiu (), was a Chinese philosopher of the Spring and Autumn period who is traditionally considered the paragon of Chinese sages. Much of the shared cultural heritage of the Sinosphere originates in the phil ...

and his descendants, whose family tree is the world's longest, covering over 2,500 years and more than 80 generations, in two million entries as of 2009. The main line of descent traditionally held the title of

Duke Yansheng The Duke Yansheng, literally "Honorable Overflowing with Wisdom", sometimes translated as Holy Duke of Yen, was a Chinese title of nobility. It was originally created as a marquis title in the Western Han dynasty for a direct descendant ...

, which was changed to the title of the first

Sacrificial Official to Confucius The Duke Yansheng, literally "Honorable Overflowing with Wisdom", sometimes translated as Holy Duke of Yen, was a Chinese nobility, Chinese title of nobility. It was originally created as a marquis title in the Han dynasty#Western Han, We ...

in the 20th century. This title is currently held by Kong Tsui-chang. Kong may also be the English

transliteration Transliteration is a type of conversion of a text from one script to another that involves swapping letters (thus '' trans-'' + '' liter-'') in predictable ways, such as Greek → and → the digraph , Cyrillic → , Armenian → or L ...

of a rare Chinese surname 空, or a less common form of the Gong surnames such as 龔, 貢 and 弓.

Origin

The character for the Kong surname was derived from the Zi () family name. The founder of the

Shang dynasty The Shang dynasty (), also known as the Yin dynasty (), was a Chinese royal dynasty that ruled in the Yellow River valley during the second millennium BC, traditionally succeeding the Xia dynasty and followed by the Western Zhou d ...

Tang of Shang Cheng Tang (born Zi Lü), recorded on oracle bones as Tai Yi or Da Yi, was the first king of the Shang dynasty. Tang is traditionally considered a virtuous ruler, as signified by his common nickname Tang the Perfect. According to legend, as th ...

whose family name was Zi, had the

temple name Temple names are posthumous titles accorded to monarchs of the Sinosphere for the purpose of ancestor worship. The practice of honoring monarchs with temple names began during the Shang dynasty in China and had since been adopted by other dynas ...

of Taiyi (). His descendants fused the character Zi () to Yi (), forming the character Kong () which eventually became a surname. It first appeared during the

Zhou dynasty The Zhou dynasty ( ) was a royal dynasty of China that existed for 789 years from until 256 BC, the longest span of any dynasty in Chinese history. During the Western Zhou period (771 BC), the royal house, surnamed Ji, had military ...

as the courtesy name Kongfu () of a noble in the

State of Song Song was an ancient Chinese state during the Zhou dynasty with its capital at Shangqiu. The state was founded soon after King Wu of Zhou conquered the Shang dynasty to establish the Zhou dynasty in 1046 BC. It was conquered by the state of ...

named Jia (), said to be a descendant of the Tang of Shang. Kongfu Jia was murdered, and his son escaped to the

State of Lu Lu (; 249 BC) was a vassal state during the Zhou dynasty of ancient China located around modern Shandong. Founded in the 11th century BC, its rulers were from a cadet branch of the House of Ji () that ruled the Zhou dynasty. The f ...

where he adopted Kong as the name of his clan. His family settled in

Qufu Qufu ( ; zh, c=曲阜) is a county-level city in southwestern Shandong province, East China. It is located about south of the provincial capital Jinan and northeast of the prefectural seat at Jining. Qufu has an area of 815 square kilometers, ...

and Confucius was one of his descendants. The Kong surname may also have originated from a number of other sources. Others had adopted Kong as their surname because it was part of their ancestors' name. For example, in the

State of Zheng Zheng (; ; Old Chinese: *') was a vassal state in China during the Zhou dynasty (1046–221 BCE) located in the centre of ancient China in modern-day Henan Province on the North China Plain about east of the royal capital at Luoyang. It was t ...

, two of Duke Mu of Zheng's () sons ( surname Ji) (), had Shikong () and Zikong () as their respective courtesy names, and their descendants took Kong as their surname. Similarly, there was a noble in the

State of Chen Chen () was a state founded by Duke Hu of Chen during the Zhou dynasty of ancient China. It existed from c. 1045 BC–479 BC. Its capital was Wanqiu, in present-day Huaiyang County in the plains of eastern Henan province. Chen, the 4th most ...

named Kongning (, originally of surname Gui ()), and another in the

State of Qi Qi, or Ch'i in Wade–Giles romanization, was a ancient Chinese state, regional state of the Zhou dynasty in History of China#Ancient China, ancient China, whose rulers held Zhou dynasty nobility, titles of ''Hou'' (), then ''Gong (title), Go ...

named Konghui (, originally of surname Jiang ()); the descendants of both also adopted the surname Kong. Some of the non-Han Chinese people used Kong as their surname, such as the Derung, Jingpo, Tibetan, and the

Yugur people The Yugurs, Yughurs, Yugu (; Western Yugur: ''Sarığ yoğır''; Eastern Yugur: ''Shera yogor''), traditionally known as Yellow Uyghurs, are a Turkic- Mongolic ethnic group and one of China's 56 officially recognized ethnic groups, consist ...

. Various Manchu clans also simplified their surnames to Kong.

Notable bearers

(Kong Qiu)

Kong

Kong Anguo Kong Anguo (; ca. 156 – ca. 74 BC), courtesy name Ziguo (), Kong Anguo was a Chinese classicist, philosopher, and politician of the Western Han dynasty of ancient China. A descendant of Confucius, he wrote the ''Shangshu Kongshi Zhuan'', a comp ...

(156 – c. 74 BC), Confucian scholar and government official of the Western Han dynasty * Augustine Kong, statistical geneticist * Kong Ji (481–402 BC), Chinese philosopher and grandson of Confucius * Kong Qingdong *

Kong Rong Kong Rong () (151/153 – 26 September 208), courtesy name Wenju, was a Chinese poet, politician, and minor warlord who lived during the late Eastern Han dynasty of China. He was a 20th generation descendant of Confucius. As he was once the Cha ...

Kong Shangren Kong Shangren (; 1648–1718) was a Qing dynasty dramatist and poet best known for his '' chuanqi'' play '' The Peach Blossom Fan''"Frommer's China", Simon Foster et al., 2010, p. 383, about the last days of the Ming dynasty. Born in Qufu, Kong ...

* Kong Tai Heong *

Kong Yingda Kong Yingda (; 574 – 648), courtesy names Chongyuan () and Zhongda (), was a Chinese philosopher during the Sui and Tang dynasty. An ardent Confucianist, he is considered one of the most influential Confucian scholars in Chinese history. Hi ...

* Kong Youde * Kong Zhaoshou

Kung

* H. H. Kung (1881–1967), banker and politician in the Republic of China * H. T. Kung (born 1945), Taiwanese-born American computer scientist *

Kung Te-cheng Kong Te-cheng () (23 February 1920 – 28 October 2008) was a 77th generation descendant of Confucius in the main line of descent. He was the final person to be appointed Duke Yansheng and the first Sacrificial Official to Confucius. He helped ...

(1920–2008), Duke Yansheng, Confucian ceremonial official * Kung Tsui-chang (born 1975), Confucian ceremonial official

Gong

* Gong Chan-shik, member of South Korean boy group

B1A4 B1A4 () is a South Korean boy band formed by WM Entertainment. The group debuted on April 23, 2011, with the single "O.K" from the EP '' Let's Fly'', after being introduced to the public through a webtoon. They have released nine studio albums ...

Gong Hyo-jin Gong Hyo-jin (; born April 4, 1980) is a South Korean actress. She is best known for her leading role in the film '' Crush and Blush'' (2008), as well as for her popular television series '' Sang Doo! Let's Go to School'' (2003), ''Thank You'' ...

(), South Korean actress * Gong Ji-young (), South Korean female writer * Gong Min-ji (known as Minzy), South Korean soloist, dancer, rapper, and former member of South Korean girl group

2NE1 2NE1 (, ) is a South Korean girl group formed by YG Entertainment in 2009. The group consists of Park Bom, Bom, CL (rapper), CL, Sandara Park, Dara, and Minzy. Known for their Experimental music, musical experimentation, fashion, and stage pre ...

Gong Yoo Gong Ji-cheol (; born July 10, 1979), known professionally as Gong Yoo (), is a South Korean actor. He is best known for his starring roles in the television series ''Coffee Prince'' (2007), '' Guardian: The Lonely and Great God'' (2016–2017 ...

(), South Korean actor * Gong Oh-kyun (), former South Korean football player and a professional coach, manager of the

Vietnam national under-23 football team The Vietnam national under-23 and Olympic football team () represents Vietnam in international football tournaments at the under-22 and under-23 age level. History Early years and downfall The team is considered to be the feeder team for th ...

Khổng

Khổng Thị Hằng Khổng Thị Hằng (born 10 October 1993) is a Vietnamese footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Women's Championship The Women's Super League 2, also known as Barclays Women's Super League 2 for sponsorship reasons, is a professional fo ...

, Vietnamese female footballer *

Khổng Tú Quỳnh Khổng Tú Quỳnh (born November 22, 1991, in Ho Chi Minh City Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) ('','' TP.HCM; ), commonly known as Saigon (; ), is the most populous city in Vietnam with a population of around 14 million in 2025. The city's geo ...

, Vietnamese singer

Hong

Hung

* William Hung (), American singer from Hong Kong

References

{{surname, Kong Chinese-language surnames Korean-language surnames Individual Chinese surnames Surnames of Cambodian origin Khmer-language surnames