Chinese surname

林

The Chinese surname 林 (Mandarin lín, Cantonese lam4) is spelled Lim, Ling, Lam in Malaysia, depending on the dialect romanization.

Mandarin (pinyin)	lín
Cantonese (Jyutping)	lam4
Definition (Unihan)	forest, grove; surname

Spelling tree of 林

林 is spelled 3 ways in our records. Each label is the romanization a spelling follows, not the bearer’s dialect.

Spelling	Romanization
Lim	Hokkien · Hakka · Teochew
Ling	Foochow
Lam	Cantonese

All surname characters and spellings

Spellings of 林 in Malaysia

LimSpelling common in Hokkien, Teochew, Hakka romanization
LingSpelling common in Foochow, Mandarin (pinyin), Cantonese romanizationAlso stands for 凌
LamSpelling common in Cantonese, Hakka romanizationAlso stands for 藍

Character readings and definition: Unicode Unihan Database (Unicode License). A spelling describes how the name is written, not anyone’s dialect or background.