Ren (surname)

Rén is the Mandarin pinyin romanisation of the Chinese surname written 任 in Chinese character. It is romanised as Jen in Wade–Giles, and Yam or Yum in Cantonese. It is listed 58th in the Song dynasty classic text Hundred Family Surnames.[1] As of 2008, it is the 59th most common surname in China, shared by 4.2 million people.[2] In 2019 it was the 49th most common surname in Mainland China.[3]

Rén (任)
PronunciationRén (Mandarin)
Cantonese: Jyutping: jam4, Middle Chinese: /ȵiɪmH/

Old Chinese:

(Baxter–Sagart): /*n[ə]m-s/

(Zhengzhang): /*njɯms/
Language(s)Chinese
Origin
Language(s)Old Chinese
Other names
Variant form(s)Yam, Yum, Jen (Mandarin Wade Giles)
Derivative(s)Im (Korean surname)

The character 任 is typically pronounced (pinyin: rèn; Jyutping: jam6), but as a surname is pronounced "rén," as well as in Ren County in Hebei.

Ancient Surname

Rèn (妊) is a variant of the surname and one of the Eight Great Surnames of Chinese Antiquity. Unlike 任 it is a very rare surname

The Zuo Zhuan states that the surname Ren is a descendant of Fuxi's surname Fēng.

Some consider the two surnames to be related

Notable people
Self portrait of Ren Xiong

References
  1. "百家姓" [Hundred Family Surnames] (in Chinese). Guoxue. Retrieved 2014-09-16.
  2. 中国最新300大姓排名（2008） [300 most common surnames in China (2008)] (in Chinese). Taiwan.cn. 2009-01-06. Retrieved 2014-09-18.
  3. "新京报 - 好新闻，无止境".
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