Song is the

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 fo ...

transliteration of the Chinese family name 宋. It is transliterated as Sung in Wade-Giles, and Soong is also a common transliteration. In addition to being a common surname, it is also the name of a Chinese dynasty, the ''

Song dynasty The Song dynasty (; ; 960–1279) was an imperial dynasty of China that began in 960 and lasted until 1279. The dynasty was founded by Emperor Taizu of Song following his usurpation of the throne of the Later Zhou. The Song conquered the res ...

'', written with the same character. In 2019 it was the 24th most common surname in Mainland China.

Historical origin

The first written record of the character 宋 was found on the oracle bones of the

Shang dynasty The Shang dynasty (), also known as the Yin dynasty (), was a Dynasties in Chinese history, Chinese royal dynasty founded by Tang of Shang (Cheng Tang) that ruled in the Yellow River valley in the second millennium BC, traditionally suc ...

, and

Song A song is a musical composition intended to be performed by the human voice. This is often done at distinct and fixed pitches (melodies) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs contain various forms, such as those including the repetiti ...

is the formal inherited state of the dynasty. From Yinxu heritage population bore genetic testing, it has resemblance in mtDNA haplogroup to the northern

Han Chinese The Han Chinese () or Han people (), are an East Asian ethnic group native to China. They constitute the world's largest ethnic group, making up about 18% of the global population and consisting of various subgroups speaking distinctive v ...

consisted of the northern Han 72.1%,

Tibeto-Burman The Tibeto-Burman languages are the non- Sinitic members of the Sino-Tibetan language family, over 400 of which are spoken throughout the Southeast Asian Massif ("Zomia") as well as parts of East Asia and South Asia. Around 60 million people spe ...

18% and Altaic populations 9.9%, which related to surname Zi.

State of Song

In the written records of Chinese history, the first time the character Song was used as a surname appeared in the early stage 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 ...

. One of the children of the last emperor of

, Weizi Qi (微子启), was a duke owned state named Song, the descent of his ancestor Xie (契), derived from surname Zi (子). Xie was born by Jiandi from swallow of black bird egg, who came from Yousong (有娀) the legendary state. The State of Song, Song's personal dominion, became part of the Zhou dynasty after the fall of the

, inherited the dynasty formally in 11th century BC. Citizens of the former State of Song commemorate to the overthrow of their state in 286 BC by the State of Qi owned by Tian, whom began to use the character Song as their surname, which is the authentic branch mainly.

Song dynasty

* Emperor Huizong of Song's officer changed to name Song, using dynasty name as family name, who is imperial clan branch of

. * Charlie Soong was Changed his family name from Han to Soon, then Soong, which was on of accepted English spellings of the dynasty name

, the dynasty from the tenth to the thirteenth century in China.

Others

*A branch of

Miao people The Miao are a group of linguistically-related peoples living in Southern China and Southeast Asia, who are recognized by the government of China as one of the 56 List of ethnic groups in China, official ethnic groups. The Miao live primarily in ...

located in

Guizhou Guizhou (; formerly Kweichow) is a landlocked province in the southwest region of the People's Republic of China. Its capital and largest city is Guiyang, in the center of the province. Guizhou borders the autonomous region of Guangxi to t ...

announced that they are descendants of State of Song historically, called Songjia (宋家), known as Chiefdom of Shuidong afterwards, who had a sub-branch merged into Luodian Kingdom as Yi-speaking people. *Otherwise, a clan of Xiqiang (西羌) people was submitted to Northern Wei dynasty during Southern and Northern Dynasties period in the year AD 518, using that surname. Previously, there was a person called Song Jian (宋建) from Fuhan, who was one of the leaders of Liang Province rebellion belonged to Qiang tribes. *Moreover, the surname contains a branch clan derived from an ancestor named ''

Temuer Timur, Temur, Temür, Temir or Tömör is a masculine Turkic and Mongolic given name which literally means ''iron''. It is a cognate of the Bosnian and Turkish name Demir. In Indonesian, timur translates to '' east'', and symbolizes hope by th ...

'' or ''

Timur Timur ; chg, ''Aqsaq Temür'', 'Timur the Lame') or as ''Sahib-i-Qiran'' ( 'Lord of the Auspicious Conjunction'), his epithet. ( chg, ''Temür'', 'Iron'; 9 April 133617–19 February 1405), later Timūr Gurkānī ( chg, ''Temür Kür ...

'' (帖木儿) with grant of seal, used the character since Ming dynasty. And there is another family clan origin located in Pingyang called ''Dashila'' (答失剌), who used this character in the same dynasty.

Blood type distribution

Population of surname Song's ABO blood type distribution is O blood type 31.3%, B blood type 30.6%, A blood type 28.4% and AB blood type 9.7%.

Variations

A less common Chinese family name ( 崇

Chóng) can also be transliterated to Soong in some Chinese dialects. The surname is also used in Korea. In Vietnam, the surname is pronounced as Tống.

Notable people

Historical figures

Song Wuji A song is a musical composition intended to be performed by the human voice. This is often done at distinct and fixed pitches (melodies) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs contain various forms, such as those including the repetition ...

fangshi of Fangxian Tao in State of Yan * Song Yu,

poet * Song Yi (died 207 BC), minister of

Chu Chu or CHU may refer to: Chinese history * Chu (state) (c. 1030 BC–223 BC), a state during the Zhou dynasty * Western Chu (206 BC–202 BC), a state founded and ruled by Xiang Yu * Chu Kingdom (Han dynasty) (201 BC–70 AD), a kingdom of the Ha ...

* Consort Song,

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 ...

empress * Empress Song (Han dynasty),

empress * Song Qian,

Eastern Wu Wu ( Chinese: 吳; pinyin: ''Wú''; Middle Chinese *''ŋuo'' < Eastern Han Chinese: ''*ŋuɑ''), known in historiography as Eastern Wu o ...

military officer in the

Three Kingdoms The Three Kingdoms () from 220 to 280 AD was the tripartite division of China among the dynastic states of Cao Wei, Shu Han, and Eastern Wu. The Three Kingdoms period was preceded by the Han dynasty#Eastern Han, Eastern Han dynasty and wa ...

era * Song Hun, d. 361, regent of the Chinese state Former Liang during the

Sixteen Kingdoms The Sixteen Kingdoms (), less commonly the Sixteen States, was a chaotic period in Chinese history from AD 304 to 439 when northern China fragmented into a series of short-lived dynastic states. The majority of these states were founded by ...

era *

Song Bian A song is a musical composition intended to be performed by the human voice. This is often done at distinct and fixed pitches (melodies) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs contain various forms, such as those including the repetition ...

, Northern Wei official, during Southern and Northern Dynasties period * Song Zhiwen, b. 656, early

Tang dynasty The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, t= ), or Tang Empire, was an imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907 AD, with an interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dynasty and followed by the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdo ...

poet *

Song Jing Song Jing (宋璟) (663 – November 21, 737), formally Duke Wenzhen of Guangping (廣平文貞公), was a Chinese politician during the Tang Dynasty and Wu Zetian's Zhou Dynasty, serving as the chancellor during the reigns of Emperor Ruizong and ...

, b. 663,

chancellor * Song Shenxi, d. 833,

chancellor * Song Wentong, b. 856,

warlord A warlord is a person who exercises military, economic, and political control over a region in a country without a strong national government; largely because of coercive control over the armed forces. Warlords have existed throughout much of h ...

, changed surname to Li since 886 *

Song Jingyang A song is a musical composition intended to be performed by the human voice. This is often done at distinct and fixed pitches (melodies) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs contain various forms, such as those including the repetition ...

, b.911, local chief administrative officer became Tusi chieftain of Chiefdom of Shuidong * Song Shou, b. 991,

assistant administer of political affairs * Song Di, b. ca. 1015, Song dynasty scholar-official and artist * Song Ci, b. 1186,

writer of Collected Cases of Injustice Rectified * Song Zhun,

scholar * Song Lian, b. 1310,

Ming dynasty The Ming dynasty (), officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China, ruling from 1368 to 1644 following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming dynasty was the last ort ...

historian *

Song Maojin Song Maojin () was a Chinese landscape painter during the Ming dynasty (1368–1644). His specific dates of birth and death are unknown. Song was born in the Songjiang province. His style name was Mingzhi (明之). Song studied under Song Xu ...

, b. 1368,

landscape painter *

Song Xu Song Xu (, born 1525), was a Chinese landscape painter. His courtesy name was Chuyang (初炀) and pen name was Shimen (石门, "Stone Gate"). Song eventually became a Buddhist priest and adopted various religious names. He was, according to some ...

, b. 1525,

landscape painter *

Song Maocheng A song is a musical composition intended to be performed by the human voice. This is often done at distinct and fixed pitches (melodies) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs contain various forms, such as those including the repetition ...

, b. 1570,

writer, changed surname from Zhao family clan *

Song Yingxing Song Yingxing ( Traditional Chinese: 宋應星; Simplified Chinese: 宋应星; Wade Giles: Sung Ying-Hsing; 1587-1666 AD) was a Chinese scientist and encyclopedist who lived during the late Ming Dynasty (1368–1644). He was the author of '' T ...

, b. 1587,

scientist and encyclopedist * Song Wan, b. 1614,

Qing dynasty The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-speak ...

Chinese poet and government official

Modern figures

Song Yuren Song Yuren (Chinese: 宋育仁; 1857-1931), word name Ziyun and Daofu, from Fushun, Sichuan, was Qing Dynasty Jinshi and early period positive reformist philosopher of China. Experience In Guangxu 12th year (1886), he became Jinshi of Dynasty co ...

, b. 1857, early period positive reformist philosopher * Charlie Soong, b. 1863, missionary and businessman, several of whose children were highly influential in early 20th century China: ** children include (see, chronologically, below): Soong sisters ( Soong Ai-ling, Soong Ching-ling and Soong Mei-ling), and their brother T. V. Soong * Sir

Song Ong Siang Sir Song Ong Siang () was a lawyer and active citizen of the British Crown Colony of the Straits Settlements. He was an ethnic Hokkien as well as a third generation Hokkien Peranakan Baba (Peranakan term for ''man'') Chinese with ancestry fr ...

, b. 1871, Singaporean lawyer and Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire * Song Shijie, b. 1873, Chinese revolutionary * Song Jiaoren, b. 1882, President of the

Kuomintang The Kuomintang (KMT), also referred to as the Guomindang (GMD), the Nationalist Party of China (NPC) or the Chinese Nationalist Party (CNP), is a major political party in the Republic of China, initially on the Chinese mainland and in Tai ...

* Song Zheyuan, b. 1885,

general * Soong Ai-ling, b. 1890, wife of H. H. Kung * Soong Ching-ling, b. 1893, wife of

Sun Yat Sen The Sun is the star at the center of the Solar System. It is a nearly perfect ball of hot plasma, heated to incandescence by nuclear fusion reactions in its core. The Sun radiates this energy mainly as light, ultraviolet, and infrared radia ...

and Vice chairman of the People's Republic of China * T. V. Soong, b. 1894, businessman and

Premier of the Republic of China The Premier of the Republic of China, officially the President of the Executive Yuan (Chinese: 行政院院長), is the head of the government of the Republic of China of Taiwan and leader of the Executive Yuan. The premier is nominally the p ...

* Soong Mei-ling, b. 1897, wife of

Chiang Kai-shek Chiang Kai-shek (31 October 1887 – 5 April 1975), also known as Chiang Chung-cheng and Jiang Jieshi, was a Chinese Nationalist politician, revolutionary, and military leader who served as the leader of the Republic of China (ROC) from 1928 ...

Song Shi-Lun Song Shilun (; 1907–1991), né Song Jirao (宋际尧, named from Chinese legendary King Yao), alternative name Song Zhiguang (宋之光), born September 10, 1907 in Liling, Hunan Province, was a general of the People's Liberation Army of the P ...

, b. 1899, PLA general * Song Renqiong, b. 1909, PLA general * Song Ping, b. 1917, Communist Party official *

Song Xi Sung Shee (; 6 October 1920 – 22 March 2007) was an important Taiwan historian, geographer, educator and governmental official. Sung was the fourth President of the Chinese Culture University. Life On 6 October 1920, Sung was born in Lishui, ...

, b. 1920, former President of the Chinese Culture University * Song Jian, b. 1931, aerospace engineer, demographer, and politician * James Soong, b. 1942,

Republic of China 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 northea ...

governor * Song Defu, b. 1946, Communist Party politician * Sung, Chi-li, b. 1948, Taiwanese religious leader * Song Tao, b. 1955, diplomat and politician *

Song Xiaobo Song Xiaobo (; born September 8, 1958) is a Chinese basketball player and Coach (basketball), coach. She is perhaps the most celebrated woman basketball player of the 1970s era in China; as a player she had outstanding all around ball skills, a ...

, b. 1958, female basketball player and coach * Song Dandan, b. 1961, actress *

Song Lianyong Stephen Sung Lin Yung (born 7 May 1965 in Tianjin) is a retired Chinese football player who represented the Hong Kong football team. Starting his career in China he played for the Chinese U-20 and the Chinese Olympic team before he established ...

, b. 1965, football player from

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 city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delta i ...

* Song Tao, b. 1965, basketball player * Song Zuying, b. 1966, ethnic Miao Chinese singer * Song Ligang, b. 1967, Chinese basketball player * Song Weiping, b. 1967, billionaire * Song Zude, b. 1968, entertainment manager * Anna Song, b. 1976, Taiwanese American journalist *

Song Aimin Song Aimin (, born February 7, 1978, in Hengshui, Hebei) is a Chinese discus thrower. Her personal best throw is 65.44 metres,achieved in October 2009 at Jinan Chinese National Games.The Chinese, and Asian, record is currently held by Xiao Ya ...

, b. 1978, discus thrower * Devon Song, b. 1980, Taiwanese singer-songwriter *

Song Lun Song Lun (, born January 18, 1981, in Qiqihar) is a Chinese figure skater. He is the 2005 Winter Universiade silver medalist and a two-time Chinese national medalist (silver in 2004, bronze in 2002). His highest placement at an ISU Champions ...

, b. 1981, figure skater *

Song Zhenyu Song Zhenyu (; Pinyin: ''Sòng Zhènyú'') (born September 21, 1981) is a Chinese former footballer who played as a goalkeeper. Club career Despite being born in Dalian, Liaoning Song Zhenyu would move to Chengdu in the Sichuan province as a boy ...

, b. 1981, football player *

Song Hongjuan Song Hongjuan (; born July 4, 1984, in Jilin) is a Chinese race walker Racewalking, or race walking, is a long-distance discipline within the sport of athletics. Although a foot race, it is different from running in that one foot must appear t ...

, b. 1984, Chinese race walker * Sarah Song, b. 1985, Miss Chinese International 2007 * Song Qian b. 1987, leader of the female South Korean group

f(x) F, or f, is the sixth letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''ef'' (pronounced ), and the plural is ''efs''. Hist ...

* Song Yuqi, b. 1999, dancer, singer, member of the South Korean group (G)I-DLE * Song Dan, b. 1990, female Chinese javelin thrower * Song Nan, b. 1990, figure skater *

Sung Chia-Hao Sung Chia-hao (; born 6 September 1992) is a Taiwanese professional baseball Pitcher for the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles of the Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB). He attended National Taiwan Sport University. Career On October 20, 2015, Sung ...

, b. 1992, Taiwanese baseball pitcher who plays with Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles * Song Andong, b. 1997, first Chinese-born

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two o ...

player ever drafted by an

NHL The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

pro team (2015) * Sung Yu-hsieh, b.1956, former Minister of Research, Development and Evaluation Commission of the Republic of China *

Jeannette Song Jing-Sheng Jeannette Song ( zh, 宋京生) is a management scientist specializing in operations management and supply chain management. She is the R. David Thomas Professor of Business Administration and Professor of Operations Management in the F ...

, Chinese and American management scientist *

Sung Nien-yu Sung Nien-yu (; born 22 November 1983), better known by his stage name Xiao Yu (), is a Taiwanese singer, songwriter, and record producer. Career Most of Xiao Yu's early career was spent behind the scenes, writing and producing music for numero ...

, Taiwanese singer, songwriter, and record producer * Song Weilong, b. 1999, Chinese actor and model * Song Yaxuan, b. 2004, Chinese singer and actor

Fictional characters

* Song Jiang, major character in 14th century novel ''

Water Margin ''Water Margin'' (''Shuihu zhuan'') is one of the earliest Chinese novels written in vernacular Mandarin, and is attributed to Shi Nai'an. It is also translated as ''Outlaws of the Marsh'' and ''All Men Are Brothers''. The story, which is ...

'', one of the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese literature * Song Qing younger brother of Song Jiang * Song Wan, fictional character in the

Song Yiren Song Yiren (; born 7 May 1993), also known as Ireine Song, is a Chinese and Canadian actress. She is known for her role as Sang Sang in the historical fantasy drama ''Ever Night'' (2018). Early life and education Song emigrated to Canada with h ...

, character featured within the famed

novel Investiture of the Gods *

Song Yuanqiao The following is a list of characters from the wuxia novel '' The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber'' by Jin Yong. Some of these characters are fictionalised personas of, or are based on, actual historical figures, such as Zhu Yuanzhang, Chang Yuch ...

, b. 1295, character in novel The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber by

Jin Yong Louis Cha Leung-yung (; 10 March 1924 – 30 October 2018), better known by his pen name Jin Yong (), pronounced "Gum Yoong" in Cantonese, was a Chinese wuxia ("martial arts and chivalry") novelist and essayist who co-founded the Hong Kong dai ...

Song Qingshu The following is a list of characters from the wuxia novel '' The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber'' by Jin Yong. Some of these characters are fictionalised personas of, or are based on, actual historical figures, such as Zhu Yuanzhang, Chang Yuc ...

, son of

* Noonien Soong, The creator of the android Data in

Star Trek ''Star Trek'' is an American science fiction media franchise created by Gene Roddenberry, which began with the eponymous 1960s television series and quickly became a worldwide pop-culture phenomenon. The franchise has expanded into vario ...

* Arik Soong, great grandfather of Noonien Soong

References

{{surname Chinese-language surnames Individual Chinese surnames