Tan (surname)

Tan (譚/谭)
Family name
Pronunciation	Tan (Tagalog) Dam (Korean) Tam (Cantonese Chinese and Hakka Chinese) Tham (Hokkien Chinese and Teochew Chinese) Đàm (Vietnamese) Ham, Tom, Thom (Toisanese Chinese)
Region of origin	China
Language(s) of origin	Chinese

Tan
Traditional Chinese	譚
Simplified Chinese	谭
Transcriptions

Tan, the pinyin romanization of 譚, is the 67th most common surname in China.^[1] The surname Chen based on the various Min dialects also sometimes romanizes as "Tan".

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 geneticist Yuan 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]

Romanisation and pronunciation

Tan is the Chinese character's Hanyu Pinyin romanisation in Mandarin Chinese. It is pronounced and romanised differently in different languages and dialects.^[3]

• In Cantonese Chinese, it is romanised as Taam4 in Jyutping and Tàahm in Cantonese Yale. It is romanised as Tam in Hong Kong and Macao.
• In Toisanese Chinese, it may be romanised as Tom, Thom, Hom, Ham or Hum.
• In Hokkien Chinese, Teochew Chinese and Hainanese Chinese, it is romanised as Thâm in POJ.
• In Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore, it is sometime romanised as Tham.
• In Vietnamese, it is romanised as Đàm.

Prominent people

Tam

• Alan Tam (譚詠麟)
• Tam Bing Man (譚炳文)
• Tam Kung (譚公)
• Patrick Tam Kar Ming (譚家明)
• Patrick Tam Yiu Man (譚耀文)
• Roman Tam (譚百先, stage name 羅文)
• Tam Yiu-chung (譚耀宗)

Tan

• Amy Tan (譚恩美)
• Tan Dun (譚盾)
• Tan Sitong (譚嗣同)
• Tan Zhenlin (譚震林)

Tom

• Jason Tom (譚志豪)
• Kiana Tom

Hom

• Ken Hom (譚榮輝), American chef

Clan villages

• Bei Hou

See also

• List of common Chinese surnames
• Chinese surname
• Chinese given name
• Generation name
• Chinese clan
• Chinese compound surname
• Vietnamese name

References

1. China Renews Top 100 Surnames, Li Still the Biggest , People's Daily Online (English), 11 January 2006
2. In Search of Your Asian Roots: Genealogical Research on Chinese Surnames by Sheau-yueh J Chao, published by Clearfield Co, Baltimore 2000.
3. A Practical English-Chinese Pronouncing Dictionary: English, Chinese Characters, Romanized Mandarin and Cantonese by Janey Chen, Tuttle Publishing, Hong Kong 1992.