Xiong is the pinyin romanization of the Chinese surname 熊 (Xióng). It is 41st in the Hundred Family Surnames, contained in the verse 熊紀舒屈 (Xiong, Ji, Shu, Qu).
 Xiong surname in regular script | |
| Pronunciation | Xióng (Pinyin) Hîm, Hiông (Pe̍h-ōe-jī) |
|---|---|
| Language(s) | Chinese |
| Origin | |
| Language(s) | Old Chinese |
| Derivation | Jilian |
| Meaning | "bear" |
| Other names | |
| Variant form(s) | Xiong, Hsiung (Mandarin) Xyooj (Hmong) Hung, Hong (Cantonese) Him (Hokkien) Hong, Yoong (Hakka) Hiōng (Gan) Hùng (Vietnamese) |
| Cognate(s) | Mi (surname) (芈) |
| See also | Zhurong (祝融) |
Romanizations
edit熊 is also romanized as Hsiung2 in Wade-Giles. It is Hung or Hong in Cantonese; Him in Hokkien, Hong or Yoong in Hakka; Hiōng in Gan; Hùng in Vietnamese; and Xyooj in Hmong.
Note that "Hong" and "Hung" may also refer to the unrelated surname 洪.
Distribution
edit熊 is the 71st most common surname in mainland China.
Although Chinese make up the largest part of the United States' population of Asian Pacific Americans,[1] none of the romanizations of 熊 appeared among the 1000 most common surnames during the 2000 United States census.[2]
Origins
editXiong's literal meaning is "bear".
In ancient China, it was used as a clan name by a branch of the Mi (芈), the royal family of the state of Chu. As recorded by Sima Qian, they claimed descent from Zhuanxu, a son of the Yellow Emperor in Chinese mythology, and Yuxiong (鬻熊), a tutor of the King Wen of Zhou in the 11th century BC. After the victory of the King Wu of Zhou over the Shang dynasty at the Battle of Muye c. 1046 BC, Yuxiong's descendants supposedly remained prominent at the Zhou court and took the surname Xiong. The King Cheng of Zhou (r. 1042–1021 BC) then appointed Xiong Yi, Yuxiong's great-grandson, viscount of the fief of Chu.[3] More likely, the clan name is a calque of a non-Sinitic dynasty, with modern scholarship believing the character 芈 was used to transcribe a Kam–Tai word also meaning "bear".[4]
Eventually rising to the status of kings, the family retained control of Chu until its conquest by Qin during the Warring States period. Some regained control of later successor states and the surname remains prominent in the provinces formerly comprising the territory of Chu.[citation needed]
List of persons with the surname
edit
Xiongedit
|
Hsiungedit
Hungedit
Songedit
Yoongedit
|
References
edit
Citations
edit- ^ United States Census Bureau. "Census 2000: Chinese Largest Asian Group in the United States". 4 Mar 2002. Accessed 29 Mar 2012.
- ^ United States Census Bureau. "Genealogy Data: Frequently Occurring Surnames from Census 2000". 27 Sept 2011. Accessed 29 Mar 2012.
- ^ Sima Qian. "楚世家 (House of Chu)". Records of the Grand Historian (in Chinese). Retrieved 3 December 2011.
- ^ Schuessler (2007).
Bibliography
edit- Schuessler, Axel (2007), ABC Etymological Dictionary of Old Chinese, Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press.
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