Nong (simplified Chinese: ; traditional Chinese: 農 or 辳) is a Chinese surname meaning "farmer".[1] It is romanized Nung in Wade–Giles or Cantonese romanization.[1] According to a 2013 study, it was the 189th most common name in China; it was shared by 640,000 people, or 0.047% of the population, with the surname being most common in Guangxi.[2] It is the 320th name in the Hundred Family Surnames poem.[3]

Nong
Stroke order of the simplified version of Nong (农)
Traditional Chinese
Simplified Chinese
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu PinyinNóng
Wade–GilesNung2
IPA[nʊ̌ŋ]
Yue: Cantonese
JyutpingNung4
Southern Min
Hokkien POJLâng
Middle Chinese
Middle Chinese/nuoŋ/

Origins

edit

Two origins are proposed:

  • In honour of Shennong (神農, "Divine Farmer"), mythological figure who brought agriculture and herbal medicine to China
  • From the ancient post of nongzheng (農正, "agriculture officer").[4][5]

Notable people

edit
  • Nong Qunhua (农群华; born 1966), Chinese badminton player
  • Nong Rong (农融; born 1967), Chinese diplomat

References

edit
  1. ^ a b "My China Roots". www.mychinaroots.com.
  2. ^ Yuan Yida (袁义达), Qiu Jiaru, 邱家儒. 中国四百大姓. Beijing Book Co. Inc., 1 January 2013
  3. ^ K. S. Tom. [1989] (1989). Echoes from Old China: Life, Legends and Lore of the Middle Kingdom. University of Hawaii Press. ISBN 0-8248-1285-9.
  4. ^ "Chinese character 农 nong2 - meaning, pinyin, strokes, translation and more". hanzidb.org.
  5. ^ "Nong Name Meaning & Nong Family History at Ancestry.com®". www.ancestry.com.