Cheng can be a transcription of one of several

Chinese surname Chinese surnames are used by Han Chinese and Sinicized ethnic groups in China, Taiwan, Korea, Vietnam, and among overseas Chinese communities around the world such as Singapore and Malaysia. Written Chinese names begin with surnames, unlik ...

s. Since the syllable ''Cheng'' represents different sounds in

Hanyu pinyin Hanyu Pinyin (), often shortened to just pinyin, is the official romanization system for Standard Mandarin Chinese in China, and to some extent, in Singapore and Malaysia. It is often used to teach Mandarin, normally written in Chinese for ...

and the

Wade–Giles Wade–Giles () is a romanization system for Mandarin Chinese. It developed from a system produced by Thomas Francis Wade, during the mid-19th century, and was given completed form with Herbert A. Giles's '' Chinese–English Dictionary'' o ...

systems of Chinese romanization, some ambiguity will exist as to which sound is represented by the letters "Cheng" if the romanisation and tone is not known. Also within each system of romanisation, each syllable can represent one of several different characters, as with any Chinese syllable. In the pinyin system of romanization (usually used in

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, slig ...

), the most common surnames romanized as ''Cheng'' are 程 and 成. In 2019 程 was the 44th most common surname in Mainland China. In names romanized in Wade–Giles (usually used in

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the no ...

), ''Cheng'' is most commonly a transcription of 鄭/郑 (pinyin Zhèng). ''Cheng'' can also be the Cantonese version of Zheng (鄭) and Jing (井), non-standard romanization of Cen (岑), and Teochew or

Hokkien The Hokkien () variety of Chinese is a Southern Min language native to and originating from the Minnan region, where it is widely spoken in the south-eastern part of Fujian in southeastern mainland China. It is one of the national languages ...

pronunciation of Zhong (鍾) and Zhuang (莊). Further confusion arises because Wade–Giles often appears without the required apostrophes (which indicates aspiration), and thus some Wade–Giles names which are properly romanized ''Ch'eng'' (such as 程 pinyin Chéng) will appear as ''Cheng''.

Origins

There are a number of accounts of the origin of the same 成 (Chéng) surname. It was the name of fiefdom Cheng (郕) in

Henan Henan (; or ; ; alternatively Honan) is a landlocked province of China, in the central part of the country. Henan is often referred to as Zhongyuan or Zhongzhou (), which literally means "central plain" or "midland", although the name is a ...

belong to Shu Wu, a son of

King Wen of Zhou King Wen of Zhou (; 1152–1050 BC, the Cultured King) was Count of Zhou during the late Shang dynasty in ancient China. Although frequently confused with his fourth son Duke of Zhou, also known as "Lord Zhou", they are different historical perso ...

. His descendants adopted the name Cheng, simplifying it to 成 by dropping the radical. Similarly descendants of Ji Zai, who was granted another fief of the same name in

Shandong Shandong ( , ; ; Chinese postal romanization, alternately romanized as Shantung) is a coastal Provinces of China, province of the China, People's Republic of China and is part of the East China region. Shandong has played a major role in His ...

King Wu of Zhou King Wu of Zhou () was the first king of the Zhou dynasty of ancient China. The chronology of his reign is disputed but is generally thought to have begun around 1046 BC and ended three years later in 1043 BC. King Wu's ancestral name was ...

, also simplified the name and adopted it as their surname. The name may also be derived from a fief of the name Cheng 成 in the state of Lu. Descendants of a Cheng Hu (成虎), son of the ruler of Chu Ruo'ao, also adopted Cheng as their surname. Others are descendants of Tu Ge invaders and other tribes in China. The Chéng (程) surname may have come from a fief named Cheng in Henan, as well as another in

Shaanxi Shaanxi (alternatively Shensi, see § Name) is a landlocked province of China. Officially part of Northwest China, it borders the province-level divisions of Shanxi (NE, E), Henan (E), Hubei (SE), Chongqing (S), Sichuan (SW), Gansu (W), N ...

. See article on Zheng for the origins of the surname Zheng (鄭).

Notable people surnamed 程

Amy Cheng Amy J. Cheng (b. 1970) is a Singaporean actress and creative director of ACT 3 Theatrics. She is best known for her role as Karen Tay in the television series '' Growing Up'' and as Jacqueline Ling in the 2018 romantic comedy-drama ''Crazy Rich ...

, Singaporean actress *

Cheng Bing Cheng Bing ( 190s–220s), courtesy name Deshu, was an official and writer of the state of Eastern Wu during the Three Kingdoms period of China. Life Cheng Bing was from Nandun County (), Runan Commandery (), which is located west of present-da ...

, official of Eastern Wu in the Three Kingdoms period *

Cheng Hong Cheng Hong (; born 21 November 1957) is a Chinese professor at the Capital University of Economics and Business and the wife of the incumbent Chinese premier Li Keqiang. Biography Cheng was born in Zhengzhou, Henan, in 1957. She secondary stu ...

, spouse of Chinese Premier

Li Keqiang Li Keqiang (born 1 July 1955) is a Chinese politician who is the outgoing premier of China. An economist by profession, Li is head of China's executive branch as well as one of the leading figures behind China's Financial and Economic Affa ...

, an English professor at the

Capital University of Economics and Business Capital University of Economics and Business (CUEB) () is a modern, multi-disciplinary financial and economic public university in Beijing, China. Founded in 1956 when the Ministry of Education founded the Beijing Economics Institute. In 199 ...

* Cheng Lei, Chinese-born Australian television news anchor and business reporter * Cheng Pu, general serving under the warlord Sun Quan in the late Eastern Han dynasty * Cheng Qian, a Chinese military general in the late 1910s * Cheng Wei-hao, Taiwanese film director and screenwriter * Cheng Yu, official serving under the warlord Cao Cao in the late Eastern Han dynasty *

Brian Ching Brian Ching (born May 24, 1978) is an American former professional soccer player who played for twelve years in Major League Soccer and represented the U.S. national team for eight years. Ching's professional career began when he was the 16th ...

, an American-born Chinese football player * Ch'eng Mao-yün, composer * Ching Cheong (Cheng Xiang), Chinese journalist with the Singapore newspaper ''The Straits Times'', imprisoned in China for five years on charges of espionage *

François Cheng François Cheng (; born 30 August 1929) is a Chinese-born French academician, writer, poet, and calligrapher. He is the author of essays, novels, collections of poetry and books on art written in the French language, and the translator of some ...

, French writer, poet and calligrapher * Henry Thia, Singaporean actor and comedian *

Jiaxin Cheng Jiaxin Cheng ( zh, c=程嘉欣, links=no, born 2 October 1974) is a Chinese-born cellist. Career Cheng graduated from the Shanghai Conservatory of Music, China, in 1997. She was already giving performances with the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra bu ...

(born 1974), Chinese-born cellist, wife of Julian Lloyd Webber * Willard Cheng, ABS-CBN News and Current Affairs Malacañang correspondent *

Woeser Tsering Woeser (also written Öser; ; , Han name Chéng Wénsà 程文萨; born 1966) is a Tibetan writer, activist, blogger, poet and essayist. Biography Woeser, a quarter Han Chinese and three quarters Tibetan, was born in Lhasa. Her grandfathe ...

(Han name Cheng Wensa ��文萨, Tibetan poet and essayist *

John S. Chen John S. Chen (; born July 1, 1955) is a Hong Kong-American businessman serving as executive chairman and chief executive officer of BlackBerry Ltd. Previously, he served as the chief executive officer and president of Sybase, a software vendor s ...

��守宗 CEO of Blackberry *

Chung Ling Soo William Ellsworth Robinson (April 2, 1861 – March 24, 1918) was an American magician who went by the stage name Chung Ling Soo (). He is mostly remembered today for his accidental death due to a failed bullet catch trick. Early years Robinso ...

, ��連蘇stage name of the American magician William Ellsworth Robinson *

Cheng Xiao Cheng Xiao (; , born July 15, 1998) is a Chinese singer, dancer and actress currently active in China since 2018, and well known as a member of South Korean-Chinese girl group WJSN. Early life Cheng was born on July 15, 1998, in Nanshan Distr ...

, singer, dancer, member of the South Korean group Cosmic Girls * Andrew Cherng, Chinese-born American restaurateur and founder of Panda Express * Sheue-yann Cheng, American molecular geneticist

Notable people surnamed 成

* Cheng Dechen, general of the Chu state in the Spring and Autumn period * Cheng Yi, Chinese actor and singer

Forename

Additionally, depending on the

character Character or Characters may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''Character'' (novel), a 1936 Dutch novel by Ferdinand Bordewijk * ''Characters'' (Theophrastus), a classical Greek set of character sketches attributed to The ...

, Cheng can be a forename. Cheng usually is only seen to be applied to the last name due to the meaning and nature of the chosen 'Cheng', if it was '成' where it means 'to become' then it is suited best as a last name as it

symbol A symbol is a mark, sign, or word that indicates, signifies, or is understood as representing an idea, object, or relationship. Symbols allow people to go beyond what is known or seen by creating linkages between otherwise very different conc ...

ises a foreseeing

connotation A connotation is a commonly understood cultural or emotional association that any given word or phrase carries, in addition to its explicit or literal meaning, which is its denotation. A connotation is frequently described as either positive ...

and would make more sense at the end of a name, but also in Chinese name layout, the last name is usually said first. whereas if it were '澄' meaning 'clarity', then it would be more likely seen as a first name, this usually appears in the middle of the name in Chinese format.

Others

* Leslie Cheng, American mathematician

References

{{surname Chinese-language surnames Multiple Chinese surnames