Wang This article is about Wang as surnames. See Chinese noble and Korean nobility for royalty rank. Chinese surname Wang (王 in pinyin: Wáng; in penkyamp & Jyutping: Wong4) is one of the most common Chinese family names. In a 2002 study, Wang was ranked number two in mainland China accounting for 7.4% of the population. It literally means "king" (See Chinese noble#Wang), although the name itself has no royal implications. The "-ang" sound in pinyin is supposed to be pronounced as in German and so the name is frequently mispronounced by American English speakers as IPA [wæŋ], rather than [waŋ], its correct pronunciation. The name is also frequently transliterated "Wong" especially for people from Hong Kong or from Guangdong. This other transliteration sounds much more similar to the Chinese pronunciation. Wang is also the pinyin transliteration of 汪 (pinyin Wāng), a lesser occurring surname among the Hundred Family Names. It is also the Cantonese Romanization of some uncommon family names: 橫 (Pinyin: Héng), 弘 (Hóng), 閎 (Hóng), 宏 (Hóng). Korean surname Wang is a Korean family name 왕 but fairly rare in Korea. According to the South Korean census of 2000, in that year 23,447 people bearing the Wang surname were living in the country. http://kosis.nso.go.kr/cgi-bin/sws_999.cgi?ID=DT_1INOOSB&IDTYPE=3&A_LANG=1&FPUB=3&ITEM=&CLASS1=S.000 The Goryeo royal family name was Wang, and the Kaesong Wang lineage traces its ancestry to the Goryeo rulers. Japanese surname Oh or O is a rare Japanese family name which is the equivalence of Wang. Oh/O is the way Japanese pronounce the character 王. Most of the Japanese with such a surname are Chinese descendants. Prominent people with surname 왕 The royal family of Goryeo Dynasty Prominent people with family name 王 O Rissei, a famous Go player Sadaharu Oh, the all-time home run king An Wang, computer scientist who founded Wang Laboratories Wang An-shih, politician during the Song Dynasty. Wang Chien-shien, politician of the Republic of China Wang Chung, general during the Three Kingdoms Wang Dao, stateman and chief advisor of Emperor Yuan of Jin China Wang Dun, ambitious militant of the Eastern Jin Dynasty Empress Dowager Wang, mother of Emperor Cheng of Han China and aunt of Wang Mang Wang Fanxi, Trotskyist Wang Fuzhi, philosopher during late Ming Dynasty. Wang Guangya, UN ambassador Wang Mang, founder of Xin Dynasty Wang Meng, chief advisor of Fu Jian. Wang Pi, Taoist philosopher during the Three Kingdoms Wang Shizhen, a Yuan Shikai's Beiyang subordinate Vera Wang, designer Wayne Wang, movie director Wang Xizhi, calligrapher during the Eastern Jin Dynasty. Wang Yan, stateman and Taoist philosopher during the Western Jin Dynasty. Wang Zhaojun, beauty married to foreigner chief Faye Wong, singer Wong Kar-wai, movie director Prominent people with family name 汪 Wang Jingwei, politician of early Republic of China FAVORITE ARTICLES: History of the World    History of the United States    History of Europe    Ancient History    History    Military History    World War I    Bombing of Dresden    California    US Constitution    Frank Sinatra    Boston    Marbury v. Madison This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License at http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html You may copy and modify it as long as the entire work (including additions) remains under this license. You must provide a link to http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html To view or edit this article at Wikipedia go to http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wang