Why are Chinese surnames so common?
Of the thousands of surnames which have been identified from historical texts prior to the Han Dynasty, most have either been lost (via the Galton-Watson process of extinction of family names) or simplified. In recent centuries some two-character surnames have often dropped a character. Since the founding of the People’s Republic of China, moreover, some surnames have been graphically simplified. Although there are thousands of Chinese family names, the 100 most common surnames, which together make up less than 5% of those in existence, are shared by 85% of the population. The three most common surnames in Mainland China are Li (李; also Lee), Wang (王; also Wong, Ong, Heng), and Zhang (张/張; also Chang, Cheung, Cheong, Teoh, Teo, Tio, Tiew), which make up 7.9%, 7.4% and 7.1% respectively. Together they number close to 300 million and are easily the most common surnames in the world. Transliteration of Chinese family names into foreign languages poses a number of problems. Chinese surname
