Ning is the romanisation of the

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 寧 ''Níng'' and its variant 甯 ''Nìng''. After the introduction of

simplified characters Simplified Chinese characters are standardized Chinese characters used in mainland China, Malaysia and Singapore, as prescribed by the ''Table of General Standard Chinese Characters''. Along with traditional Chinese characters, they are on ...

, both names were written as 宁 in

Mainland China "Mainland China" is a geopolitical term defined as the territory governed by the China, People's Republic of China (including islands like Hainan or Chongming Island, Chongming), excluding dependent territories of the PRC, and other territorie ...

until 2000, when the character 甯 was restored as an accepted variant for people whose family had originally used that character. However, usage of 甯 remains rare, with most continuing to use 宁. As a first name, it is a name suitable for both genders, but more commonly masculine. Its literal meaning is "peaceful". The surname appears 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 text composed of common Chinese surnames. An unknown author compiled the book during the Song dy ...

, but is relatively uncommon in modern times. In 2008, research by the Chinese Office of Public Security estimated that around 710,000 people in China shared the surname 宁, making it the 173rd most common surname in the

People's Republic of 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 ...

. Worldwide, the number of people with the surname Ning may be over 800,000.

Chinese

The ancient origins of this surname are thought to begin with an official called Ji Wei in the era of the

Zhou dynasty The Zhou dynasty ( ; Old Chinese ( B&S): *''tiw'') was a royal dynasty of China that followed the Shang dynasty. Having lasted 789 years, the Zhou dynasty was the longest dynastic regime in Chinese history. The military control of China by th ...

, who was given command over the county of Ningyi, which included the current regions of

Huojia County Huojia County () is a County (People's Republic of China), county under the administration of the prefecture-level city of Xinxiang, in the northwest of Henan province, China. The name Huojia, which means "capturing Lü Jia (Nanyue), üJia", w ...

and Xiuwu County 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 ...

. The descendants of Ji Wei adopted the geographical name of Ningyi as his surname in commemoration of his settlement. The surname today appears in many areas of China, although there are a notable handful of towns in

Guangxi Guangxi (; ; alternately romanized as Kwanghsi; ; za, Gvangjsih, italics=yes), officially the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region (GZAR), is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China, located in South China and bordering Vietnam ...

which each have over 10,000 people surnamed Ning, specifically: Yandun, Taiping and Xinxu in Lingshan County, Xiaojian in Pubei County and Nalin in Bobai County.Ning Families website
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Ninh (Vietnamese)

The modern Vietnamese surname ''Ninh'', derived from 寧 or 甯, has existed since at least the era of the Dinh dynasty, with historical mentions of a general called Ninh Huu Hung (939-1019), reputed to have overseen the construction of Hoa Lu, the ancient capital of Vietnam) and seen by Vietnamese as the father of carpentry and wood carving.

Notable people with the surname 宁/寧

Ning (Chinese)

*宁安

Ning An Ning An, also known as An Ning (; born 1976), is a Chinese-born American pianist. Biography Born in December, 1976, Ning An began his musical studies at the Cleveland Institute of Music with Olga Radosavljevich and Sergei Babayan. He subsequent ...

, Chinese-American pianist *宁安

, Chinese professional footballer *宁滨 Ning Bin, politician in the PRC *寧程 Ning Cheng, government official of the

Han Dynasty The Han dynasty (, ; ) was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China (202 BC – 9 AD, 25–220 AD), established by Emperor Gaozu of Han, Liu Bang (Emperor Gao) and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by th ...

*宁春红 Ning Chunhong, Chess

Woman Grandmaster FIDE titles are awarded by the international chess governing body FIDE (''Fédération Internationale des Échecs'') for outstanding performance. The highest such title is Grandmaster (GM). Titles generally require a combination of Elo rating and ...

*宁浩 Ning Hao, Chinese film director *宁静 Ning Jing, actress
宁露
Ning Lu, actress, producer * 宁吉喆

Ning Jizhe Ning Jizhe (; born December 1956) is a Chinese economist and senior official currently serving as the director of the National Bureau of Statistics of China and Vice Chairman of the National Development and Reform Commission (minister-level rank) ...

, Chinese economist and statistician *宁梦华 Ning Menghua, Chinese olympic sprint canoeist *宁伟辰 Ning Weichen, Chinese professional footballer *宁瀛

Ning Ying Ning Ying (born 1959 in Beijing) is a female Chinese film director often considered a member of China's " Sixth Generation" filmmaker coterie, a group that also includes Jia Zhangke, Zhang Yuan and Wang Xiaoshuai. However, this is more a result ...

, Chinese film director *宁宇清 Ning Yuqing, Chinese tennis player *宁泽涛 Ning Zetao, Olympic swimmer *宁珍云 Ning Zhenyun, member of

China women's national football team The China women's national football team (, recognized as China PR by FIFA) represents the People's Republic of China in international women's football competitions and is governed by the Chinese Football Association. China women's team won si ...

at the

2004 Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, ) and also known as Athens 2004 ( el, Αθήνα 2004), ...

*宁艺卓 Ning Yizhuo (stage name Ningning), member of South Korean girl group

Aespa Aespa ( ; , commonly stylized in all lowercase or æspa) is a South Korean girl group formed by SM Entertainment. The group consists of four members: Karina, Giselle, Winter, and Ningning. They debuted on November 17, 2020, with the single "B ...

*??? James Ning, Chinese-American actor *甯董维 Ling Don Wei, Singaporean freelancer

Ninh (Vietnamese)

* Ninh Cát Loan Châu, Vietnamese American singer * Ninh Dương Lan Ngọc, Vietnamese Actress

References

{{101-200 Most Common Family Names in Mainland China Chinese-language surnames Individual Chinese surnames

Chinese

Ninh (Vietnamese)

Notable people with the surname 宁/寧

Ning (Chinese)

Ninh (Vietnamese)

See also

References