Chinese surname

Surname Lam

藍 · 林

Lam is a Chinese surname that can be 藍 (blue) or 林 (forest), depending on the character a family uses.

Characters for the surname Lam

The spelling Lam is common in Cantonese and Hakka romanization.

藍

blue; indigo plant; surname

Cantonese laam4 / Hakka làm / Mandarin lán

attested
林

forest; surname

Cantonese lam4 / Mandarin lín

藍 all spellings of lán 林 all spellings of lín

Possible characters for Lam

The spelling Lam can stand for 2 characters. The spelling alone does not show which one a family uses.

Character	Mandarin reading · romanization of the spelling
藍	lán · Cantonese · Hakka
林	lín · Cantonese

Other spellings of the same character

Lim 林Hokkien, Teochew, Hakka
Ling 林Foochow, Mandarin (pinyin), Cantonese

About the surname Lam

Lam is a surname spelling that can stand for more than one character. 藍 (blue, indigo) reads laam4 in Cantonese and làm in Hakka, while 林 (forest) reads lam4 in Cantonese; in Hokkien 林 is usually spelled Lim. The meaning depends on the character a family uses.

Sources

Wiktionary: 藍 · en.wiktionary.org · meaning
MDBG: 藍 · mdbg.net · meaning
Wiktionary: 林 · en.wiktionary.org · meaning
MDBG: 林 · mdbg.net · meaning

Names are shared across communities. The categories on this site are for browsing only: they describe a name and its spelling, not anyone’s ethnicity, religion or background.

Entry ID: mn02934 · Updated 2026-10-25 · Report a mistake