Chiang (江 / 蔣 / 姜)
3 Taiwanese surnames carry the spelling Chiang.
江 Chiang
- Zhuyin
- ㄐㄧㄤ
- Pinyin
- jiāng
- Wade-Giles
- Chiang
- Further spellings of 江
- Jiang
- Taiwanese Hokkien (Tâi-lô)
- Kang
- Hakka (Sixian)
- gong²⁴
- Rank in Taiwan
- 25th most common surname, roughly 0.92% of the population (2023 Ministry of the Interior figures)
What the character means
'River'; in particular it is short for the Yangtze (長江).
Where the surname comes from
Tradition traces it to the state of Jiang (江) near present-day Zhengyang, Henan, ruled by descendants of Boyi (伯益) of the Ying (嬴) clan. When Chu conquered Jiang in 623 BCE, its people took the state's name. Hall name (堂號): 濟陽堂.
Saying it 我姓江 — wǒ xìng jiāng (ㄨㄛˇ ㄒㄧㄥˋ ㄐㄧㄤ), "my family name is 江"
蔣 Chiang
- Zhuyin
- ㄐㄧㄤˇ
- Pinyin
- jiǎng
- Wade-Giles
- Chiang
- Further spellings of 蔣
- Jiang
- Taiwanese Hokkien (Tâi-lô)
- Tsiúnn
- Hakka (Sixian)
- jiong³¹
- Rank in Taiwan
- 72nd most common surname, roughly 0.17% of the population (2023 Ministry of the Interior figures)
What the character means
Wild rice stem (茭白筍); it is also an ancient state.
Where the surname comes from
Tradition traces it to Boling (伯齡), a son of the Duke of Zhou, enfeoffed at Jiang (蔣) in present-day Henan; once Chu destroyed it, its people took the state's name. Hall name (堂號): 樂安堂.
Saying it 我姓蔣 — wǒ xìng jiǎng (ㄨㄛˇ ㄒㄧㄥˋ ㄐㄧㄤˇ), "my family name is 蔣"
姜 Chiang
- Zhuyin
- ㄐㄧㄤ
- Pinyin
- jiāng
- Wade-Giles
- Chiang
- Further spellings of 姜
- Jiang
- Taiwanese Hokkien (Tâi-lô)
- Khiong Khiong is the literary (文讀) reading, while the character's colloquial (白讀) reading is khiunn or kiunn.
- Hakka (Sixian)
- giong²⁴
- Rank in Taiwan
- 81st most common surname, roughly 0.15% of the population (2023 Ministry of the Interior figures)
What the character means
In MOE's Mandarin dictionary, 姜 is listed only as a surname ('ginger' is written 薑).
Where the surname comes from
Among the oldest Chinese surnames: tradition holds that the Yan Emperor (炎帝) grew up by the Jiang River (姜水) and took its name. Jiang Taigong (姜尚), founder of the state of Qi, belonged to this clan. Hall name (堂號): 天水堂.
Saying it 我姓姜 — wǒ xìng jiāng (ㄨㄛˇ ㄒㄧㄥˋ ㄐㄧㄤ), "my family name is 姜"
Sources: rank and share, 內政部 全國姓名統計分析 (Ministry of the Interior, National Name Statistics), data as of 2023-06-30. Taiwanese Hokkien readings, 教育部臺灣台語常用詞辭典 (MOE Dictionary of Frequently-Used Taiwanese Taigi), 百家姓 appendix. Hakka, 教育部臺灣客語辭典 (MOE Dictionary of Taiwan Hakka), 百家姓表, Sixian (四縣腔).