Tan is a common Chinese surname譚, and is considered the 56th most common. [1]
Origin
Two origins have been suggested for the Tan surname:[2]
The surname came from the ancient State of Tan which was located in the western part of what is now Shandong Province. During the Spring and Autumn period, this state was conquered by the neighbouring State of Qi. The court changed their surname to Tan in remembrance of their defeated homeland, and later prospered in Hunan Province.
The surname came from the less common surname 談, another with the same pronunciation in Mandarin Chinese and Cantonese Chinese. In order to avoid the revenge of their enemies, the clan leaders changed it to 譚.
A study by geneticistYuan Yida has found that people with either of the two Tan surnames are especially concentrated in Hunan Province which would tend to support these accounts. This does not mean that they are the most common surnames in that province.[1]
^In Search of Your Asian Roots: Genealogical Research on Chinese Surnames by Sheau-yueh J Chao, published by Clearfield Co, Baltimore 2000.
^A Practical English-Chinese Pronouncing Dictionary: English, Chinese Characters, Romanized Mandarin and Cantonese by Janey Chen, Tuttle Publishing, Hong Kong 1992.
This page lists people with the surnameTan. If an internal link intending to refer to a specific person led you to this page, you may wish to change that link by adding the person's given name(s) to the link.
