Tan is a common Chinese

surname In some cultures, a surname, family name, or last name is the portion of one's personal name that indicates one's family, tribe or community. Practices vary by culture. The family name may be placed at either the start of a person's full name ...

譚.''China Renews Top 100 Surnames, Li Still the Biggest''
''People's Daily'' online (English), 11 January 2006 It is considered the 56th most common surname.

Origin

Two origins have been suggested for the Tan surname: * The surname came from the ancient State of Tan which was located in the western part of what is now

Shandong Province Shandong ( , ; ; alternately romanized as Shantung) is a coastal province of the People's Republic of China and is part of the East China region. Shandong has played a major role in Chinese history since the beginning of Chinese civilizatio ...

. During the

Spring and Autumn period The Spring and Autumn period was a period in Chinese history from approximately 770 to 476 BC (or according to some authorities until 403 BC) which corresponds roughly to the first half of the Eastern Zhou period. The period's name derives fr ...

, this state was conquered by the neighbouring

State of Qi Qi, or Ch'i in Wade–Giles romanization, was a state of the Zhou dynasty-era in ancient China, variously reckoned as a march, duchy, and independent kingdom. Its capital was Linzi, located in present-day Shandong. Qi was founded sh ...

. The court changed their surname to Tan in remembrance of their defeated homeland, and later prospered in

Hunan Province Hunan (, ; ) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China, part of the South Central China region. Located in the middle reaches of the Yangtze watershed, it borders the province-level divisions of Hubei to the north, Jiangxi to ...

. * The surname came from the less common surname 談, another with the same pronunciation in

Mandarin Chinese Mandarin (; ) is a group of Chinese (Sinitic) dialects that are natively spoken across most of northern and southwestern China. The group includes the Beijing dialect, the basis of the phonology of Standard Chinese, the official language ...

and

Cantonese Chinese Cantonese ( zh, t=廣東話, s=广东话, first=t, cy=Gwóngdūng wá) is a language within the Chinese (Sinitic) branch of the Sino-Tibetan languages originating from the city of Guangzhou (historically known as Canton) and its surrounding a ...

. In order to avoid the revenge of their enemies, the clan leaders changed it to 譚. A study by

geneticist A geneticist is a biologist or physician who studies genetics, the science of genes, heredity, and variation of organisms. A geneticist can be employed as a scientist or a lecturer. Geneticists may perform general research on genetic processes ...

Yuan Yida Yuan Yida () is a researcher from the Institute of Genetic and Developmental Biology at the Chinese Academy of Sciences. He is a leading researcherPeople's Daily OnlineChina has 4100 meaningful surnames January 13, 2006. on Chinese surnames in m ...

has found that people with either of the two Tan surnames are especially concentrated in

which would tend to support these accounts. This does not mean that they are the most common surnames in that province.

Romanisation and pronunciation

''Tan'' is the

Chinese character Chinese characters () are logograms developed for the writing of Chinese. In addition, they have been adapted to write other East Asian languages, and remain a key component of the Japanese writing system where they are known as ''kanji' ...

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 ...

romanisation in

. It is pronounced and romanised differently in different languages and dialects.''A Practical English-Chinese Pronouncing Dictionary: English, Chinese Characters, Romanized Mandarin and Cantonese'' by Janey Chen, Tuttle Publishing, Hong Kong 1992. *In

, it is romanised as ''Taam4'' in

Jyutping Jyutping is a romanisation system for Cantonese developed by the Linguistic Society of Hong Kong (LSHK), an academic group, in 1993. Its formal name is the Linguistic Society of Hong Kong Cantonese Romanization Scheme. The LSHK advocates fo ...

and ''Tàahm'' in

Cantonese Yale The Yale romanization of Cantonese was developed by Gerard P. Kok for his and Parker Po-fei Huang's textbook ''Speak Cantonese'' initially circulated in looseleaf form in 1952 but later published in 1958. Unlike the Yale romanization of Mandar ...

. It is romanised as ''Tam'' in

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a List of cities in China, city and Special administrative regions of China, special ...

and

Macau Macau or Macao (; ; ; ), officially the Macao Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (MSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China in the western Pearl River Delta by the South China Sea. With a pop ...

. *In Toisanese Chinese, it may be romanised as ''Thom'', ''Hom'', ''Ham'' or ''Hum''. *In

Hokkien Chinese 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 ...

Teochew Chinese Teochew or Chaozhou (, , , Teochew endonym: , Shantou dialect: ) is a dialect of Chaoshan Min, a Southern Min language, that is spoken by the Teochew people in the Chaoshan region of eastern Guangdong and by their diaspora around the world ...

and Hainanese Chinese, it is romanised as ''Thâm'' in POJ. *In

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federal constitutional monarchy consists of thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two regions: Peninsular Malaysia and Borneo's East Mal ...

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Gui ...

and

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, bor ...

(Overseas Chinese communities), it is sometimes romanised as ''Tham''. *In Filipino and other

Philippine languages The Philippine languages or Philippinic are a proposed group by R. David Paul Zorc (1986) and Robert Blust (1991; 2005; 2019) that include all the languages of the Philippines and northern Sulawesi, Indonesia—except Sama–Bajaw (language ...

(Overseas Chinese communities), it is romanised as ''Tan''. *In Japan, it may be romanised as ''Tan''.

Prominent people

Tam

* Adrian Tam, American politician representing Waikiki and Ala Moana *

Alan Tam Alan Tam Wing-lun MH (; born 23 August 1950) is a Hong Kong singer and actor. He played a major role in developing the Cantopop scene in the 1980s as he was known for singing romantic ballads with modern arrangements. From 1983 to 1987, Alan Tam ...

, (), Hong Kong singer and actor * Jeremy Tam Man Ho (, born 1975), Hong Kong politician * Tam Kung, (), Chinese folk hero who was reputed to be able to forecast the weather *

Patrick Tam Kar Ming Patrick Tam Kar-ming (; born 25 March 1948) is a Hong Kong film director and film editor. He is known as the seminal figure of Hong Kong New Wave and the mentor of Wong Kar-wai. Career Tam directed the 1987 film '' Final Victory'', scripted ...

(, born 1948), Hong Kong film director and editor *

Patrick Tam Yiu Man Patrick Tam (; born 19 March 1969) is a Hong Kong actor and singer. Career He first set foot into the entertainment industry after winning the 1988 New Talent Awards in Hong Kong alongside another notable Hong Kong singer, Sammi Cheng who ...

(, born 1969), Hong Kong actor and singer * Roman Tam (, stage name , 1945–2002), Hong Kong singer *

Theresa Tam Theresa Tam (; born 1965) is a Canadian physician and public servant who currently serves as the chief public health officer of Canada, who is the second-in-command of the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC). Tam initially took the role as ...

(born 1965 in Hong Kong),

Chief Public Health Officer of Canada The chief public health officer of Canada (CPHO; french: administratrice en chef de la santé publique; ACSP) is the lead health professional and primary spokesperson on public health related matters for the Government of Canada. The chief public ...

Vivienne Tam Vivienne Tam (, born 28 November 1957) is a fashion designer based in New York City. She was born in Guangzhou, Guangdong, China, and moved to Hong Kong at the age of three. She attended the Hong Kong Polytechnic University. Tam's fashion brand ...

(, born 1957), Hong Kong fashion designer *

Tam Yiu-chung Tam Yiu-chung, GBM, JP (; born 15 December 1949) is a pro-Beijing politician in Hong Kong. He is a current member of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPCSC), former member of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong (Leg ...

(, born 1949), Hong Kong politician

Tan

Amy Tan Amy Ruth Tan (born on February 19, 1952) is an American author known for the novel '' The Joy Luck Club,'' which was adapted into a film of the same name, as well as other novels, short story collections, and children's books. Tan has written ...

(, born 1952), American writer *

Tan Dun Tan Dun (, ; born 18 August 1957) is a Chinese-born American composer and conductor. A leading figure of contemporary classical music, he draws from a variety of Western and Chinese influences, a dichotomy which has shaped much of his life and ...

(, born 1957), Chinese composer and pianist * Tan Jing (谭晶, born 1977), Chinese singer, philanthropist and congresswoman * Karen Tan Puay Kiow (born 1962), Singaporean army officer *

Tan Lee Wai Tan Lee Wai (born 20 July 1970) is a former Malaysian badminton Badminton is a racquet sport played using racquets to hit a shuttlecock across a net. Although it may be played with larger teams, the most common forms of the game are "si ...

(born 1970), Malaysian badminton player * Melinda Tan, British academic *

Mely G. Tan Mely Tan Giok Lan (born 11 June 1930), professionally known as Mely G. Tan, is a Chinese Indonesian sociologist. Tan obtained her bachelor's degree from the University of Indonesia, later receiving a scholarship to study at Cornell University. Af ...

(born 1930), Indonesian sociologist *

Milagrosa Tan Milagrosa Tee Tan (24 February 1958 – 30 November 2019) was a Filipina politician from the province of Samar in the Philippines. She was from the town of Palompon in the province of Leyte and married a Catbaloganon. She was the first female g ...

(1958–2019), Filipina politician *

Shaun Tan Shaun Tan (born 1973) is an Australian artist, writer and film maker. He won an Academy Award for '' The Lost Thing'', a 2011 animated film adaptation of a 2000 picture book he wrote and illustrated. Other books he has written and illustrated inc ...

(born 1974), Australian author and illustrator * Tan Sitong (, 1865–1898), Chinese politician *

Tan Songyun Tan Songyun (born 31 May 1990), also known as Seven, is a Chinese actress. She is best known for her roles in television series '' The Whirlwind Girl'' (2015), '' With You'' (2016), '' The Fox's Summer'' (2017), '' Under The Power'' (2019), '' G ...

(, born 1990), Chinese actress *

Tan Sui Hoon Tan Sui Hoon (born 5 December 1963) is a former Malaysian badminton player. Tan won a bronze medal at the 1991 Asian championship in Mixed doubles and a bronze in Asian cup competition. In 1992 she medalled in both the doubles competition in Asi ...

(born 1963), Malaysian badminton player * Tan Yankai (, born 1880) Chinese politician and Premier of the Republic of China. *

Yuanyuan Tan Yuan Yuan Tan (; born February 14, 1976) is a Chinese ballet dancer who is principal dancer with the San Francisco Ballet. Biography She entered Shanghai Dance School at the age of 11. Initially her father opposed this, as he wanted her to ...

(譚元元, born 1977), Chinese ballet dancer; Principal Dancer at the San Francisco Ballet * Tan Yuanchun (, 1586–1637), Chinese scholar * Tan Zhenlin (, 1902–1983), Chinese politician * Tan Zhonglin (, born 1822) Qing dynasty scholar-official. Governor and viceroy of Shaanxi and Gansu Provinces.

Tom

* Kiana Tom, (born 1965), American television host *

Lauren Tom Lauren Tom (born August 4, 1961) is an American actress. Her roles include Lena St. Clair in '' The Joy Luck Club'', Julie in the NBC sitcom ''Friends'', Dot in the final season of ''Grace Under Fire'', and the voices for Amy Wong in ''Futurama ...

, (born 1961), American actress * Tom Hom (born 1927), American politician

Hom

* Ken Hom (born 1949), American chef * Sharon Hom (born 1951), Hong Kong-born American human rights law professor * Alice Y. Hom (born 1967), American LGBTQ community activist

Clan villages

* Bihou

References

{{surname Chinese-language surnames Individual Chinese surnames Surnames of Malaysian origin

Origin

Romanisation and pronunciation

Prominent people

Tam

Tan

Tom

Hom

Clan villages

See also

References