Chinese names

There are only about 100 family names (last names or surnames) for China’s 1.3b residents. The most common last name, Wang, is shared by some 93 million people. As Monty Python noted in their “Bruce” skit set in Australia, “That’s going to cause some confusion, Bruce.” The BBC reports the Chinese government is considering allowing and/or encouraging couples to use family names combining the mother’s maiden name with the father’s, to increase the number of last names to over a million.

The BBC’s cultural notes say that Chinese names are written with the family name first. Given names are much more varied than in English, as parents may choose any combination of the 50,000 characters to form names – somewhat analagous to those in Native American peoples.

This post brought to you by the That’s Interesting And News To Me department. It has no relevance to our trip, of course – I prepared and stored it for this time when I’m not in touch with Portland. Later today, we leave Long Beach and head back to the rocks and landscapes, at Yosemite National Park. This short break in an urban playground has made me glad to have one last session in the wilderness to finish up our vacation.