Chang (surname)

Chang (/tʃɑːŋ/)[1] is the pinyin romanization of the Chinese surname 常 (Cháng). It was listed 80th among the Song-era Hundred Family Surnames.

Not to be confused with Zhang (surname), Zhang (surname 章), or Chāng (surname).

Chang (常)

Origin
Word/name	Old Chinese
Region of origin	China

"Chang" is also the Wade-Giles romanization of two Chinese surnames written Zhang in pinyin: one extremely common and written 張 in traditional characters and 张 in simplified characters, and another quite rare and written as 章 in both systems. There is also a rare case of 鄭 in Hong Kong written as Chang as well. For full details on them, see the "Zhang" 章 and "Zheng" 鄭 article. In Macao, this is the spelling of the surname "Zeng" 曾. "Chang" is also a common spelling of the surname 陈/陳 (Chen in Mandarin pinyin) in Peru.

See also: Jang (Korean surname)

It is also another Romanization of the Korean surname Jang.

Romanization

常 is romanized as Ch'ang in Wade-Giles, although the apostrophe is often omitted in practice. It is romanized as Soeng and Sheung in Cantonese; Seong and Siông in Minnan languages; and Sioh in Teochew. It is occasionally romanized Sōng and Thōng as well.

It is the source of the Vietnamese surname Thường. The Korean surname romanized as Sang (상). In Japanese, it is romanized as Jō.

Distribution

常 was unlisted among the most recent rankings of the 100 most common Chinese surnames in mainland China and on Taiwan based on household registrations in 2007, although the Ministry of Public Security in 2008 listed is as the 87th most common surname in China based on its database of National Identity Cards, shared by at least 2.4 million Chinese citizens.[2] It was the 94th-most-common surname during the 1982 Chinese census.

张 is the third-most-common surname in mainland China, making up 6.83% of the population of the People's Republic of China, although there it is official rendered into the Latin alphabet as Zhang.[3] Its Traditional Chinese variant 張 is the fourth-most-common surname in Taiwan, making up 5.26% of the population of the Republic of China.[4]

"Chang" is a common Chinese surname in the United States, ranked 687th among all surnames during the 1990 census and 424th during the year 2000 census.[5] It was ranked 11th among all surnames held by Asians and Pacific Islanders and 6th among all surnames held by Chinese Americans in 2000, well ahead of the pinyin variant "Zhang".[6]

"Chang" is a common surname in Peru, where it was adopted by Cantonese immigrants as a variant spelling of Chen (陈 or 陳).

Origin

The pronunciation of Chang in Old Chinese has been reconstructed as *daŋ. Its original meaning was "constant" or "often". By the time of Middle Chinese, the pronunciation had shifted to Dzyang.[7]

Notable Changs

張 and 张 Angela Chang, Taiwanese singer and actress. Chang Cheh, Hong Kong film director Chang Chen-yue or "A-Yue", Taiwanese rock musician. Chang Ching-sen (born 1959), Governor of Fujian Province Chang Fei or "Fei Ge", Taiwanese television personality. Chang Jin-fu (born 1948), Governor of Taiwan Province (2009–2010) Chang King-yuh (born 1937), Minister of Mainland Affairs Council of the Republic of China (1996–1999) Chang Liang-jen (born 1946), Deputy Minister of National Defense of the Republic of China (2008–2009) Chang Li-shan (born 1964), Magistrate-elect of Yunlin County Chang San-cheng (born 1954), Premier of the Republic of China (2016) Chang Tzi-chin, Deputy Magistrate of Taipei County (2005–2006) Chen Chung Chang, mathematician Deserts Chang, Taiwanese singer/songwriter. Feiping Chang, Taiwanese-born Hong Kong socialite and fashion blogger Edmond E-min Chang (born 1970), Taiwanese American former lawyer and current federal district judge for northern Illinois, appointed by President Obama in 2010 Eileen Chang (1920–1995), Chinese writer Erchen Chang, Taiwanese chef Chang Hui-mei or "A-mei", aboriginal Taiwanese singer and occasional songwriter. Iris Chang (1968–2004), American historian and journalist Jeff Chang, Taiwanese singer Jung Chang, Chinese writer and author of Wild Swans Chang Kai-chen (born 1991), Taiwanese tennis player Kathleen Chang, birth name of Kathy Change, a political activist who committed suicide by self-immolation at the University of Pennsylvania in 1996 Katharine Chang, Chairperson of Straits Exchange Foundation Chang King Hai Chinese international footballer in 1948 Olympics Michael Te-Pei Chang (born 1972), Chinese American tennis player Peng Chun Chang (1892–1957), Chinese professor, philosopher, and playwright who played a pivotal role in drafting the Universal Declaration of Human Rights Phil Chang, Taiwanese singer-songwriter and television personality Shi-Kuo Chang, Taiwanese computer scientist and science fiction author Victor Chang (1936–1991), Chinese-Australian cardiac surgeon Chang Yu-sheng (1966–1997), Taiwanese singer, composer, and producer

陳 and 陈 José Antonio Chang, Peruvian politician.[8] 常 Chang Yuchun (1330–1369), a Ming general Elliott Charng, representative of the Republic of China to Australia 章 John Chiang, a Taiwanese politician formerly surnamed "Chang". Other/unknown Ivan Miranda Chang, Peruvian tennis player. Meiyang Chang, Chinese Indian television artist Fictional characters Chang, a henchman in the James Bond film Moonraker played by the Franco-Japanese aikido instructor Toshiro Suga Cho Chang, a character in the Harry Potter novels officially Sinified as 张秋 (Zhang Qiu), sometimes alternately claimed by Cantonese Caos or even Korean Chos Kenny Chang, a character played by Robert Hoang in the British web series Corner Shop Show. Leia Chang, a character in the television show Degrassi: The Next Generation played by the Chinese-Canadian actress Judy Jiao Mike Chang, a Chinese-American character in the TV series Glee, played by Chinese-Latin American actor Harry Shum Junior Julia Chang, an American fighter, luchadora and ecologist in the video game franchise, Tekken. Tina Cohen-Chang, a Chinese-American character in the TV series Glee, played by Korean-American actress Jenna Ushkowitz Tony Chang, a character played by Michael Truong in the British web series Corner Shop Show. Chang Chong-Chen, a character in The Adventures of Tintin series, inspired by Hergé's real-life friend Zhang Chongren Ben Chang, a character in the TV series Community, played by actor Ken Jeong Manpukumaru Chang, a character from Valkyrie Drive- Bhikkhuni Corki Chang and her father Mr. Chang, characters from Make It Pop

See also

• Zhang (surname)
• List of common Chinese surnames

References

1. "Chang". Collins English Dictionary.
2. "中国最新300大姓排名（2008 [Statistics on the number of citizens with each surname in China, based on records of National Identity Cards]." 2009-01-06. Accessed 20 Jun 2015.(in Chinese)
3. "公安部统计：'王'成中国第一大姓 有9288万人 [Public Security Bureau Statistics: 'Wang' Found China's #1 'Big Family', Includes 92.88m People]." 24 Apr 2007. Accessed 27 Mar 2012.(in Chinese)
4. 中华百家姓-千字文-国学经典-文化经典. "中国台湾姓氏排行 Archived 2013-10-16 at the Wayback Machine [Taiwan (China) Surname Ranking]". 8 Jun 2010. Accessed 1 Apr 2012. (in Chinese)
5. US Census Bureau. Public Broadcasting Service. "How Popular Is Your Last Name?" Accessed 6 Apr 2012.
6. United States Census Bureau. "Genealogy Data: Frequently Occurring Surnames from Census 2000". 27 Sept 2011. Accessed 29 Mar 2012.
7. Baxter, Wm. H. & Sagart, Laurent. "Baxter–Sagart Old Chinese Reconstruction". Archived from the original on 2013-09-27. (1.93 MB), p. 33. 2011. Accessed 11 October 2011.
8. Xinhua News Agency. "秘鲁改组内阁 华裔　何塞·陈出任总理". 15 September 2010. Accessed 22 December 2016.