Ren (surname)

(Redirected from Jen (surname))

Rén is the Mandarin pinyin romanisation of the Chinese surname written in Chinese script. It is romanised as Jen in Wade–Giles, and Yam or Yum in Cantonese. It is listed 58th in the Song dynasty classic text Hundred Family Surnames.[1] As of 2008, it is the 59th most common surname in China, shared by 4.2 million people.[2] In 2019 it was the 49th most common surname in Mainland China.[3]

Rén (任)
PronunciationRén (Mandarin)
Cantonese: Jyutping: jam4, Middle Chinese: /ȵiɪmH/

Old Chinese:

(Baxter–Sagart): /*n[ə]m-s/

(Zhengzhang): /*njɯms/
Language(s)Chinese
Origin
Language(s)Old Chinese
Other names
Variant form(s)Yam, Yum, Jen (Mandarin Wade Giles)
Derivative(s)Im (Korean surname)

The character 任 is typically pronounced (pinyin: rèn; Jyutping: jam6), but as a surname is pronounced "rén," as well as in Ren County in Hebei.

Ancient Surname

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Rèn (妊) is a variant of the surname and one of the Eight Great Surnames of Chinese Antiquity. Unlike it is a very rare surname

The Zuo Zhuan states that the surname Ren is a descendant of Fuxi's surname Fēng.

Some consider the two surnames to be related

Notable people

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Self portrait of Ren Xiong

References

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  1. ^ "百家姓" [Hundred Family Surnames] (in Chinese). Guoxue. Retrieved 2014-09-16.
  2. ^ 中国最新300大姓排名(2008) [300 most common surnames in China (2008)] (in Chinese). Taiwan.cn. 2009-01-06. Retrieved 2014-09-18.
  3. ^ "新京报 - 好新闻,无止境".