Editing Chinese name (section)

== Family names ==
{{Main|Chinese surname}}
Although there are currently over 6,000 [[Chinese surname]]s including non-Han Chinese surnames ({{zhi|c=姓|p=xìng}}) in use in China,<ref name=gbtimes>{{cite news |url=https://gbtimes.com/wang-is-the-most-common-surname-in-china |title=Wang is the most common surname in China |first=Asa |last=Butcher |date=31 January 2019 |work=GBTimes |access-date=22 November 2019 |archive-date=8 August 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190808232306/https://gbtimes.com/wang-is-the-most-common-surname-in-china |url-status=live }}</ref> the colloquial expression for the "Chinese people" is Bǎixìng ({{zhi|c=百姓}}) "[[Hundred Family Surnames|Hundred Surnames]]", and a mere hundred surnames still make up over 85% of China's 1.3&nbsp;billion citizens.<ref name="PD">{{cite web |website=People's Daily |url=http://english.people.com.cn/200706/19/eng20070619_385661.html |title=Chinese surname shortage sparks rethink |date=19 May 2007 |access-date=16 March 2012 |archive-date=20 February 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120220065038/http://english.people.com.cn/200706/19/eng20070619_385661.html |url-status=live }}</ref> In fact, just the top three—[[Wang (surname)|Wang]] ({{zhi|c=王}}), [[Li (surname 李)|Li]] ({{zhi|c=李}}), and [[Zhang (surname)|Zhang]] ({{zhi|first=t|t=張|s=张}})—cover more than 20% of the population.<ref name="PD"/> This homogeneity results from the great majority of [[Han Chinese|Han]] family names having only one character, while the small number of [[Chinese compound surname|compound surnames]] is mostly restricted to minority groups.<ref name="Xinhua">{{cite web |url=http://www.taiwan.cn/xwzx/jrbd/200712/t20071212_499876.htm |date=12 December 2007 |script-title=zh:我国汉族公民最长姓名达15字 公安部：起名不规范会有不便 |website=taiwan.cn |access-date=16 March 2012 |language=zh |archive-date=29 May 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190529193945/http://www.taiwan.cn/xwzx/jrbd/200712/t20071212_499876.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> The most common compound surname still in use in ethnic Han families is [[Ouyang]].<ref>{{Cite journal | author1-last = 武 | author1-first= 洁 | author2-last=杨 | author2-first=建春 | author1-mask = Wu Jie (武洁); | author2-mask = Yang Jianchun (杨建春) | script-title = zh:张、王、李、赵谁最多——2010年人口普查姓氏结构和分布特点 | script-work = zh:中国统计| volume =2014 | issue=6 | pages=22–23 | date = 2014-06-23 | access-date = 2015-01-19 | url = http://www.cnki.com.cn/Article/CJFDTotal-ZGTJ201406011.htm | language = zh | archive-date = 2015-01-19 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150119143914/http://www.cnki.com.cn/Article/CJFDTotal-ZGTJ201406011.htm | url-status=dead}}</ref>

Chinese surnames arose from two separate [[Prehistoric China|prehistoric]] traditions: the {{zhp|p=xìng|c=姓}} and the {{Lang|zh-latn|[[Chinese surname#Shi|shì]]}} ({{zhi|c=氏}}). The original {{Lang|zh-latn|xìng}} were clans of royalty at the [[Shang dynasty|Shang]] court and always included the {{kxr|woman}} [[radical (Chinese character)|radical]]. The {{Lang|zh-latn|shì}} did not originate from families, but denoted fiefs, states, and titles granted or recognized by the Shang court. Apart from the [[Jiang (surname)|Jiang]] ({{zhi|c=姜}}) and [[Yao (surname)|Yao]] ({{zhi|c=姚}}) families, the original {{Lang|zh-latn|xìng}} have nearly disappeared but the terms ironically reversed their meaning. {{Lang|zh-latn|Xìng}} is now used to describe the {{Lang|zh-latn|shì}} surnames which replaced them, while {{Lang|zh-latn|shì}} is used to refer to maiden names.

The enormous modern clans sometimes share [[tanghao|ancestral halls]] with one another, but actually consist of many different lineages gathered under a single name. As an example, the surname [[Ma (surname)|Ma]] ({{zhi|first=t|t=馬|s=马}}) includes descendants of the [[Warring States period|Warring States]]–era bureaucrat [[Zhao She]], descendants of his subjects in his fief of Mafu, Koreans from an [[Mahan confederacy|unrelated confederation]], and Muslims from all over western China who chose it to honor [[Muhammad]].<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_hJ9aht6nZQC&pg=PA375|title=Muslim Chinese: Ethnic Nationalism in the People's Republic|author=Dru C. Gladney|author-link=Dru C. Gladney|year=1996|publisher=Harvard Univ. Asia Center|location=Cambridge, Massachusetts|page=375|isbn=0-674-59497-5|access-date=2011-04-09}}</ref>

Traditionally, a married woman keeps her name unchanged, without adopting her husband's surname.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Tatlow|first1=Didi|title=For Chinese Women, a Surname Is Her Name|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/12/world/asia/china-women-surnames.html|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=11 November 2016|access-date=12 August 2017|archive-date=8 November 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201108161134/http://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/12/world/asia/china-women-surnames.html|url-status=live}}</ref> A child would inherit his or her father's surname. This is still the norm in [[mainland China]], though the marriage law explicitly states that a child may use either parent's surname. It is also possible, though far less common, for a child to combine both parents' surnames. Due to Western influence, the tradition of a woman changing her last name, or prepending her husband's to her own, is reflected in some [[Hong Kong name]]s and [[Macao name]]s.