An (安)
Origin
Meaning"peace", "tranquility"
Region of originChina
Other names
Variant form(s)

The surname An is a Chinese surname (Chinese: 安; pinyin: Ān) which literally means "peace" or "tranquility". It also serves as an abbreviation of Anxi (安息), meaning "Arsacid" in Chinese and can be romanized as On. Visitors to China who came from Arsacid-held territories often took the name An. In 2008, it was the 110th most common surname in the People's Republic of China, shared by over 1.7 million citizens.[1] The surname is most common in Northern China. It is the 79th name on the Hundred Family Surnames poem.[2]

During the Song dynasty, another An (俺) was a Jewish Chinese surname, Related surname descendants Andrew the Apostle[3][4]

Distribution of the Chinese surname An in territories claimed by the People's Republic of China

Origins of An (安)

Iranian

Parthian

During the Qin and Han dynasty, the most common origin of the surname An was as a contraction of Anxi, meaning "Arsacid", and was thus given to people of Arsacid-territory origin, such as An Shigao, a nobleman from the Arsacid Empire. An Xuan, another Parthian, followed An Shigao to Luoyang and assisted in his translations of Buddhist texts.

During the 3rd century, An Faqin (安法欽), a Parthian Buddhist from the Parthian Empire, came to Xijin (西晉).

Sogdian

In the Tang dynasty period 9th century, An was also sometimes used as the name for the region of Sogdia; previously, Sogdians had exclusively used the surname of Kang (康). The addition was due to the existence of two Sogdian kingdoms, identified as An and Kangju; the state of An was accordingly named due to its occupation by the Arsacids.[5][6] It is considered one of the "Nine Sogdian Surnames."[7]

Xueyantuo

During the Northern Wei period in the 6th century, Anchi/Anzhi (安迟) was the Xianbei surname of Uyghur people (回鶻人) a division of the Hui people; they later reduced the surname to An (安). During the Tang dynasty in the 8th century, the An (安) family name was used among the Xueyantuo (薛延陀) people.

Khitan

During the Qing dynasty, Ardan (阿爾丹) the Daur people (達斡爾族) were given the surname An (安) with the Ar dialect.

Notable people

Historical figures

Modern

  • An Qi (安琦; born 1981), Chinese football goalkeeper
  • An Yuexi (安悦溪; born 1989), Chinese actress
  • Shone An, Taiwanese singer, actor and television host

Stage name

  • Amber An (安心亞; born Liao Ching-ling (Chinese: 廖婧伶; pinyin: Liào Jìnglíng),[1] Taiwanese actress, singer, television host, and model
  • Ady An Yi-xuan (安以軒; born 吳玟靜 on 1980), Taiwanese actress and singer

See also

References

  1. ↑ "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)
  2. ↑ K. S. Tom. [1989] (1989). Echoes from Old China: Life, Legends and Lore of the Middle Kingdom. University of Hawaii Press. ISBN 0-8248-1285-9.
  3. ↑ M. Avrum Ehrlich (Ed.). The Jewish-Chinese Nexus: A Meeting of Civilizations. Routledge, UK, 2008. ISBN 978-0-415-45715-6
  4. ↑ Chang, Hsiang Wen (1945), "An Early Chinese Source on the Kaifeng Jewish Community", Folklore Studies, 4: 327–331, doi:10.2307/3182906, JSTOR 3182906
  5. ↑ Xue, Zongzheng (1992). A History of the Turks. Beijing: Chinese Social Sciences Press. ISBN 7-5004-0432-8. p. 329, 602-606
  6. ↑ Ebrey, Walthall, Palais (2006). Encyclopedia of China (Chinese History Edition), 1st ed.
  7. ↑ "The Nine Sogdian Surnames | the Sogdians". Archived from the original on 2020-10-19. Retrieved 2020-06-10.
  8. ↑ An Lushan's biography in the New Book of Tang, in addition to indicating that his original name was Galuoshan, also indicated that his original surname was Kang, implying that his father was surnamed Kang. However, his biography in the Book of Tang indicated that An Lushan "originally did not have a surname." Compare Book of Tang, vol. 200, part 1, with New Book of Tang, vol. 225, part 1.
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