Eng (name)

Eng
Language(s)Chinese (Cantonese, Southern Min), German, Norwegian, Swedish
Other names
Variant form(s)

Eng is a Chinese, German, and Scandinavian surname, as well as a given name in various cultures.

Given name

  • Eng Abner Nangwale (1932–2013), Ugandan politician
  • Eng Bunker (1811–1874), Siamese-American conjoined twin brother of Chang Bunker
  • Chong Eng (章瑛; born 1974), Malaysian politician
  • Eng Tow (杜瑛; born 1947), Singaporean contemporary artist

Surname

Origins

Eng may be the spelling of multiple Chinese surnames, based on their pronunciation in different varieties of Chinese; they are listed below by their spelling in Hanyu Pinyin, which reflects the standard Mandarin pronunciation:[1]

Ng is another spelling of the Cantonese pronunciation of the first two surnames listed above. Chinese Americans in the Pacific Northwest tended to prefer the spelling Eng over Ng.[8] The Cambodian surname Eng (អេង) probably originates from the latter three surnames mentioned above.

As a German surname, Eng is a variant spelling of Enge, a topographic surname for a person who lived in a valley or other such narrow place, from German eng 'narrow'.[9]

The Norwegian and Swedish surname Eng originated as an ornamental surname from Old Norse eng and Swedish äng 'meadow'.[10]

Statistics

As of 2023, there were 910 people in Norway with the surname Eng.[11]

The 2010 United States census found 10,862 people with the surname Eng, making it the 3,352nd-most-common name in the country. This represented an increase from 10,102 (3,246th-most-common) in the 2000 census. In both censuses, roughly three-quarters of the bearers of the surname identified as Asian and 14% as non-Hispanic white.[12] It was the 179th-most-common surname among respondents to the 2000 census who identified as Asian.[13]

People

Politics and government

  • Brynolf Eng (1910–1988), Swedish diplomat
  • Eng Chhai Eang (អេង ឆៃអ៊ាង; born 1965), Cambodian politician
  • Hans Eng (1907–1995), Norwegian physician and Nazi collaborator
  • Hughes Eng (fl. 1959–present), Chinese-born Canadian activist
  • Jakob Eng (1937–2022), Norwegian banker and politician
  • John Eng (born 1942), American politician of Chinese descent in Washington State
  • Mike Eng (伍國慶; born 1946), American politician of Chinese descent in California
  • Suriani Abdullah (birth name Eng Ming Ching; 1924–2013), former central committee member of the Communist Party of Malaya
  • Randall T. Eng (born 1947), mainland Chinese-born American jurist
  • Roland Eng (born 1959), Cambodian diplomat
  • Susan Eng (伍素屏; fl. 1974–present), Canadian lawyer of Chinese descent, former chair of the Metro Toronto Police Services Board
  • Sigrun Eng (born 1951), Norwegian politician

Sport

Television and film

  • Dayyan Eng (伍仕賢; born 1975), Taiwan-born American filmmaker
  • Esther Eng (伍錦霞; 1914–1970), American filmmaker of Chinese descent
  • Kenneth Eng (fl. 1994–present), American filmmaker of Chinese descent
  • Marny Eng (born 1969), Canadian stuntwoman
  • Peppe Eng (born 1948), Swedish sports journalist
  • Vickie Eng (fl. 1990–present), American actress

Other

  • Charis Eng (1962–2024), Singaporean-born American geneticist
  • Diana Eng (born 1983), American fashion designer of Chinese descent
  • Helga Eng (1875–1966), Norwegian psychologist and educationalist
  • Janice J Eng (born 1963), Canadian neurologist
  • Johnny Eng (伍少衡; born c. 1958), Hong Kong-born American criminal
  • Mercedes Eng (fl. 2010–present), Canadian writer of Chinese descent
  • Phoebe Eng (born c. 1961), American writer of Chinese descent
  • Richard Eng (伍經衡; born 1964), Hong Kong tutor of English

References

  1. ^ Hanks, Patrick, ed. (2003). Dictionary of American Family Names. Vol. 1. Oxford University Press. p. 528. ISBN 9780199771691.
  2. ^ Louie, Emma Woo (1998). Chinese American Names: Tradition and Transition. McFarland. p. 71. ISBN 9780786438778.
  3. ^ Louie 1998, p. 71
  4. ^ Medhurst, Walter Henry (1832). A dictionary of the Hok-këèn dialect of the Chinese language, according to the reading and colloquial idioms. East India Company Press. p. 177.
  5. ^ Koh, Jaime (2013). Singapore Childhood: Our Stories Then and Now. World Scientific. p. 28. ISBN 9789814390774. Additionally see "翁". mogher.com. Retrieved 11 December 2019.
  6. ^ Medhurst 1832, p. 177
  7. ^ Fielde, Adele M. (1883). "應". A pronouncing and defining dictionary of the Swatow dialect, arranged according to syllables and tones. Shanghai: American Presbyterian Mission Press. p. 121. Additionally see "應". mogher.com. Retrieved 11 December 2019.
  8. ^ Louie 1998, p. 127
  9. ^ Hanks 2003, p. 528
  10. ^ Hanks 2003, p. 528
  11. ^ "Names". Statistics Norway. 24 January 2017. Retrieved 3 March 2023.
  12. ^ "How common is your last name?". Newsday. Retrieved 5 September 2018.
  13. ^ "Most common last names for Asians and Pacific Islanders in the U.S." Mongabay. Retrieved 8 January 2018.