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Surnames

Chinese surnames

One character is spelled differently by dialect (陳: Tan, Chan, Chin, Chen), and one spelling can stand for more than one character. The spelling describes how the name is written, not anyone’s dialect or background.

This page lists 156 spellings of Chinese surnames used in Malaysia and the 143 characters behind them. In Chinese names the surname comes first and the given name after it. Latin spellings follow dialect and are not standardised: the character 陳 is spelled Tan, Chan, Chin or Chen, and two people named Wong may use different characters, 王 and 溫. Use the character table to see every spelling of one character, or check a particular spelling for the characters it may stand for. Read the guide to Malaysian Chinese names.

One character, many spellings

陳 → Tan陳 → Chan陳 → Chen陳 → Chin陳 → Chun陳 → Ding陳 → Tang陳 → Ting張 → Chong張 → Teo張 → Chang張 → Cheong張 → Tiong張 → Teoh張 → Zhang黃 → Wong黃 → Ooi黃 → Wee黃 → Huang黃 → Bong黃 → Ng鍾 → Chong鍾 → Choong鍾 → Cheng鍾 → Chung鍾 → Zhong郭 → Kok郭 → Koay郭 → Kuo郭 → Kuok郭 → Kwek魏 → Wee魏 → Gooi魏 → Gwee魏 → Ngwe魏 → Wei章 → Chong章 → Chang章 → Cheong章 → Zhang吳 → Goh吳 → Go吳 → Ng吳 → Gho 陳張黃鍾郭魏章吳 ChanChenChinChunDingTanTangTingTeoTeohTiongBongHuangOoiWongChengChoongChungZhongChongChangCheongWeeZhangKoayKokKuoKuokKwekNgGooiGweeNgweWeiGhoGoGoh
The 8 characters with the most spellings; spellings in bold stand for more than one character. See every character and spelling.
CharacterSpellings
陳Tan, Chan, Chen, Chin, Chun, Ding, Tang, Ting
張Chong, Teo, Chang, Cheong, Tiong, Teoh, Zhang
黃Wong, Ooi, Wee, Huang, Bong, Ng
鍾Chong, Choong, Cheng, Chung, Zhong
郭Kok, Koay, Kuo, Kuok, Kwek
魏Wee, Gooi, Gwee, Ngwe, Wei
章Chong, Chang, Cheong, Zhang
吳Goh, Go, Ng, Gho

By character

By spelling

Frequently asked questions

Why are Tan, Chan, Chin and Chen the same surname?

They are all spellings of the character 陳 in different dialects (Hokkien, Cantonese, Hakka, Teochew and Mandarin). Spellings in Malaysia were passed down between generations and stayed, while mainland China later standardised on pinyin.

Does a spelling show a family’s dialect?

A spelling describes how the name is written, not anyone’s dialect or background. We do not guess dialect from a name.