Tan (surname)

:"This article is about the Chinese surname" 譚", which is pronunced as "Tán" in Mandarin Chinese.Is "Taam" in Cantonese Phonetic, '譚" in English is "Tam" in Canton and Hong Kong. For another Chinese surname" 陳 "that is pronunced as "Tân" in Min Nan Chinese, see Chen (surname) ."Tan and Tam (zh-ts|t=|s=) is a Chinese surname. In a 2006 study of the 100 most common Chinese surnames, Tan was found to be the 67^th most common. [http://english.people.com.cn/200601/11/eng20060111_234647.html "China Renews Top 100 Surnames, Li Still the Biggest"] , People's Daily Online (English), 11 January 2006]

Origin

Two origins have been suggested for the Tan surname: ["In Search of Your Asian Roots: Genealogical Research on Chinese Surnames" by Sheau-yueh J Chao, published by Clearfield Co, Baltimore 2000.]

* The surname came from the ancient State of Tan, which was located in the western part of what is now Shandong Province. During the Spring and Autumn Period, this state was conquered by the neighbouring State of Qi. The court changed their surname to Tan in remembrance of their defeated homeland, and later prospered in Hunan Province.

* The surname came from the less common surname 談, another with the same pronunciation in Mandarin and Cantonese. In order to avoid the revenge of their enemies, the clan leaders changed it to 譚.

A study by geneticist Yuan Yida has found that people with either of the two Tan surnames are especially concentrated in Hunan Province which would tend to support these accounts. This does not mean that they are the most common surnames in that province. .]

Romanisation and pronunciation

"Tán" is the Chinese character's pinyin romanisation in Mandarin. It is pronounced and romanised differently in different languages and dialects. ["A Practical English-Chinese Pronouncing Dictionary: English, Chinese Characters, Romanized Mandarin and Cantonese" by Janey Chen, Tuttle Publishing, Hong Kong 1992.]

*In Cantonese, it is romanised as "Taam4" in Jyutping and "Tàahm" in Cantonese Yale. It can also be romanised as "Tam".
*In Taishanese, it may be romanised as "Tom", "Thom", "Hom", "Ham", or "Hum".
*In Min Nan, it is romanised as "Thâm" in POJ.
*In Vietnamese, it is spelt as "Đàm".

Prominent people

*Alan Tam (譚詠麟)
*Amy Tan (譚恩美)
*Tan Dun (譚盾)
*Tam Kung (譚公)
*Patrick Tam Kar Ming (譚家明)
*Patrick Tam Yiu Man (譚耀文)
*Roman Tam (譚百先, stage name: 羅文)
*Tan Sitong (譚嗣同)
*Steven Tan

Fictional people

*River Tam
*Simon Tam
*Dana Tan

Clan villages

*Bei Hou

ee also

*List of common Chinese surnames
*Chinese surname
*Chinese given name
*Generation name
*Chinese clan
*Chinese compound surname
*Vietnamese name

External links

* [http://mysite.verizon.net/vzepzaui/history.html 譚 Tom Genealogy]

References