Learn Cantonese - Common Chinese Surnames/Last Names

[@Atheral]

Looking forward to hearing about the Cantonese surname "Ng" in part 2!

[@CantoneseCorner]

Hi there! Then I guess I'll have to make it 6 more surnames (and happy to do so!) because according to how I learned them way back when, the next five in order are: 6) Chow/Chau 7) Lau 8) Ma 9) Mak 10) Kwan But this does leave out of course quite a few -- like what about "Ng" and "Lam" and "Leung" and "Chiu", etc.? This got me curious, so I looked online and found that now in China, Wong is the most common, but in Hong Kong as far as I know, it's always been learned in the order I gave them in, with Chan at the top of the list. I also thought it was so interesting how "Even today, the number of surnames in China is a little over 4,000,[1] while the year 2000 US census found the number of American surnames held by at least 100 people to be more than 150,000[2] and more than 6.2 million surnames altogether.[3] (That's from Wikipedia.) I'm actually surprised that there are over 4,000 surnames in China -- I would that thought less! I'll do some more research before the next video and definitely will include "Ng". Thanks for commenting! :)

[@mrtsiqsin2290]

@@CantoneseCorner Actually the most common surname alternates between Wong (王) and Lee (李) with only a small percentage difference. Some surnames are more common in particular provinces due to historical background. For example, Chan (陳) is most common in Guangdong, Lam (林) in Fujian and Taiwan, Wong (王) in northern provinces, Lee (李) in Sichuan, Cheung (張) in Shanghai, etc.

[@dreamer1036]

Welcome back! Now that you're settled in, you can consistently put out videos which will rank you higher in the search algorithm. :) looking forward to that course!

[@CantoneseCorner]

Hey there! So nice to hear from you! Thanks for the tip :) Will keep you posted on the course - I'm excited! 😁

[@lexaaxel916]

Thanks so much, Sue! I have so many videos of yours to catch up on and am so excited to get back into my cantonese practice! I hope the move into your new place went smoothly. :D

[@sannywong9718]

I’m so happy to see another video. I’m a Wong! Thanks for mentioning our name. I look forward to more lessons. I love your videos.

[@CantoneseCorner]

Thanks so much, Sanny! I'm so happy to read your comment, and stay tuned since I hope to have more up soon! :)

[@RizzoRakuzaki]

You should make more vidz......i am damn happy to know a new vid is out, i learnt so much cantonese from you, please make more vidz

[@CantoneseCorner]

Your comment made me smile and is really encouraging to me! The new whiteboard should be ready for me to pick up early this week, and once I get it up on the wall, I'll be making more, I promise! :)

[@heidievans1685]

Really looking forward to the new lesson course, this sounds exciting!

[@CantoneseCorner]

Hi Heidi! Oh, I'm so glad to hear that you are! Thanks for commenting to let me know :)

[@matthewromo2435]

Looking forward to your new materials !! And, great video. I always learn something new.

[@CantoneseCorner]

Thanks, Matthew! I'm glad you think so and are looking forward to the new stuff...nice to hear from you again! :)

[@mrtsiqsin2290]

Thanks for your video. Miss your videos so much! As far as I know, Ho 何 is not as common as the other four when considering other parts of Chinese communities, including the mainland China, Taiwan and overseas. The two Wongs 黃 and 王 (they sound different in Mandarin, Huang vs Wang) has quite a different distribution. 黃 is only common in Southern China, especially in Guangdong Province, while 王 is much more common in Northern and the middle part of China. The top three surnames throughout China are always 李, 王 and 張. The below is the percentage of China's statistics in 2019 that I found on the Internet: 1. 李: 7.94% (95 million) 2. 王: 7.41% (89 million) 3. 張: 7.07% (85 million) 4. 劉: 5.38% (64 million) 5. 陳: 4.53% (54 million) You can see that there is an obvious distance between the top three and the 4th/5th. And these five surnames alone account for nearly one-third of China's population (around 400 million).

[@CantoneseCorner]

Hi again! It's good to hear from you, and thanks for sharing such detailed info. Yes, definitely when considering other parts of China, Taiwan, and overseas, the order of popularity seems to change quite drastically. I actually got my list from one of the books I learned from back in the 90s, and I thought it was quite random (my book didn't say they were in order). BUT when I showed the video to native friends that have grown up in Hong Kong, they said they learned it in that same order too -- like it was common knowledge among HK people. But I wonder if Chan still is #1 in HK ... I'm thinking maybe not with so many more Mainlanders from other regions (not just southern China) coming to Hong Kong? So fascinating how surnames in China are shared by so many people! I think there are less than 100 in the whole world that have my same surname haha

[@sallylauper8222]

Great to see another lesson from you. Now I have to google all these "characters" (except Bruce and Jacky).

[@CantoneseCorner]

Hi Sally! Thanks and I'm so happy I can "introduce" them to you! Here's another one .... I wish I had thought to include him in the video along with Jacky Chan -- he is Eason Chan ... and here's a link to a video of him singing an Alan Tam song ... and Eason pretending to be Alan halfway through LOL. kzbin.info/www/bejne/mZO4k6WCZrCYgbs I love Eason's voice ... so rich and smooth, and this song (originally by Alan Tam) is one of my favourites. (I'm hoping to post a video I saw of Eason speaking Cantonese on my channel, but see if I can get permission first :)

[@petermaylath8886]

So glad to see you back! :)

[@CantoneseCorner]

Hi Peter - I'm glad to be back! :)

[@4eyemonkey]

another useful and practical video! thank you for teaching!!

[@CantoneseCorner]

Thank YOU for watching and leaving me such a nice comment/compliment! :)

[@李白-f5u]

wow洋人广东话讲得这么好！

[@JesusChristIsLord__]

Yay! More videos! Thank you!

[@CantoneseCorner]

You're welcome! I'm so glad you're excited to see them, and I appreciate you commenting to let me know! :)

[@didamaciel9841]

Very interesting video. It's nice to have a English based video to make things more understandable. I'm following you on IG too. Thanks.

[@CantoneseCorner]

Thanks! I'm glad you like it and thanks for following me on Instagram! :)

[@subwaydawg7254]

Love your videos and thank you for the lessons!

[@CantoneseCorner]

You're welcome! And thank YOU for such a nice compliment :) I really appreciate it!

[@adriechue15]

love your Cantonese videos!!

[@CantoneseCorner]

Thanks so much! I'm so glad you do :)

[@liverpix]

Thanks for another interesting lesson and putting my surname Chan as number 1. : ) I was a bit taken aback a few years ago when I saw the simplified version of Chan written, doesn't look right.

[@CantoneseCorner]

Hi there - so nice to hear from you! Yup, Chan rules (in HK at least :) and YES!!! I totally agree about the weird look of the simplified Chan character 陈 compared to the traditional 陳 . It looks actually harder to get all the strokes in the right place in the simplified version -- and there aren't that many fewer strokes anyway! Honestly, most of the simplified characters just make me sad ... such a downgrade! I mean, it's one thing to have a simplified version in addition to the traditional one (like the way we have contractions in English: will not = won't, "gotcha" = got you; "wanna" = want to -- not an exact comparison, but you know what I mean), but to have made it the ONLY system is a slap in the face to thousands of years of culture and to the people's intelligence! OK, I'll get off my soapbox now 😅 Thanks so much for commenting! :)

[@liverpix]

@@CantoneseCorner Thanks for your detailed reply.

[@cherishcherubs]

@@CantoneseCorner i heard that Wang/Wong 王 was no 1 in China but not in hk

[@ma-chantravels]

Hi, I love your videos. They are very informative. I had a question: what is the best way to say "May I take your picture?" or "May I film you?". I am coming to Hong Kong in November, and plan to be doing videos, and want to be sure to get people's permission before I film them. Thanks so much, and keep up the great work!

[@CantoneseCorner]

Hi there! That's so exciting that you're coming to Hong Kong! Have you been here before? I'm guessing you mean you'll be filming like someone random, like someone selling fruit in the market, in which case the simplest way to say it would be: (néih) gaai m gaai yi ngóh yíng dyuhn pín? ([You] mind/not mind I take [a] video?) If you are taking a photo, then substitute “jeung séung” for “dyuhn pín”: (néih) gaai m gaai yi ngóh yíng jeung séung? ([You] mind/not mind I take [a] photo?) I hope that helps! Too bad I can’t record it for you here in the comments, but that’s something I could do on Instagram! Also, don't forget to say a big thank you afterwards: “mh gòi saai [néih] - Thank you!” Yes, people will sometimes say thank you in Cantonese and then tack on the English “Thank you!” after it, so basically “Thank you! Thank you!”

[@ma-chantravels]

@@CantoneseCorner Thanks for your reply, that's very helpful. No, I have never been to Hong Kong, but my family and I are coming to live there for at least three years, so I am already studying Cantonese, and will be doing extensive KZbin videos of Hong Kong life. We can't wait :).

[@Jonathon29]

the "lazy" you speak of is the colloquial way of speaking. There's a lot of shortcuts to speaking in Cantonese so that you are not speaking as if you you are reading Cantonese. For example when counting from 20-99, there is a long version for each number and a short version and 99% of the time you use the the short version in conversation.

[@iamhebexx59]

First viewer, first to like and first to comment !❤️

[@CantoneseCorner]

Thank you, that's so cool! ❤️

[@musa75mw]

Very interesting thanx for sharing. Greetings from Germany, Martin

[@CantoneseCorner]

Hi Martin, I'm glad you found it interesting! Thanks for letting me know you hail from Germany ... I've been to Munich twice (just on extended stopovers) and loved it. Have you ever been to Hong Kong?

[@musa75mw]

Cantonese Corner Hi yes indeed i have been once at Hong Kong airport on the way to South Korea and Taiwan in 1988. Oh my goodness i am getting old :). In October I will study master Chinese Studies if i pass the language test.

[@tszwahyeung1410]

Very long time no see, welcome back! 生平遇到好多俊傑同嘉欣。我嘅理解，姓名係一種身份，通常一個人只有一個身份，通過呢個身份標記呢個人掌管幾多權力（Power）同資源（Resources）。有啲人有幾個身份，比如間諜呢種特殊職業。MATRIX標記地球每個人，就似手機都有一個獨一無二嘅IMEI。

[@CantoneseCorner]

Thanks, Tszwah! So true how your name is your identity -- and more than just a name. I've never liked my name - hate it, actually. I have a first and two middle names that I can choose from, but none of them seem to really "fit" me ... thinking I need a new one - or maybe make something up like the HK singer G.E.M. -- which is an acronym for "Get Everyone Moving" while her real name is Gloria Tang! :)

[@tszwahyeung1410]

The Matrix（1999）入面個男主角就自己改名叫Neo，其實係睇認同感，鍾意邊個身分多啲。而家有啲實力嘅國家都傾力研究緊人工智能，人工智能除咗愛嚟（in order to）監控人民，更大目的係大規模生產全自動武器，但係如果AI聰明得滞，「電腦民族」可能會向人類宣戰，有齣呢類題材嘅電影叫智能叛變（i, Robot)。啲藝人改名通常要考慮容易記（easy to remember）兼特別（special），提升佢哋嘅識別率。我就天生好難粉（fan）一樣嘢，因爲咁會將我擺咗喺從屬嘅地位，比啲廣告公司利用係小事，政治上都咁就容易被人「牢牢把握」（共產黨用語）住我個腦，就冇咗獨立思考能力了。

[@laikokhua946]

Is the same surname Lee and lai,,,??

[@evacheing8689]

I am a Cheing! May you tell me something about my surname?

[@Panda-ho7ef]

Amazing. U have no discernible accent. Ur Cantonese is better than mines. Serious skills.

[@cherishcherubs]

Thanks for adding chan cause I'm a chan

[@CantoneseCorner]

My husband's family is a "Chan" too! :)

[@huynhthidieu99]

Sue , you look great from your enthusiasm Cantonese TEACHER!PLEASE GIVE A LESSON FOR HONG KONG TRAVEL TIPS: CULTURE, EDUCATION, POPULAR PLACES. THANK

[@CantoneseCorner]

Hi there! Thanks for commenting and I'll add these ideas to my list for sure ... so many popular places, I'll have to narrow them down first! :)

[@lordkent8143]

I personally know a person for each of those surnames mentioned 🤣

[@CantoneseCorner]

Awesome! :)