Kang (康)
A Taiwanese surname.
康 K'ang
- Zhuyin
- ㄎㄤ
- Pinyin
- kāng
- Wade-Giles
- K'ang
- Further spellings of 康
- Kang
- Taiwanese Hokkien (Tâi-lô)
- Khng Khng is the colloquial (白讀) reading, while khong is the character's literary (文讀) reading.
- Hakka (Sixian)
- kong²⁴
- Rank in Taiwan
- 80th most common surname, roughly 0.15% of the population (2023 Ministry of the Interior figures)
What the character means
It means 'healthy', 'peaceful' and 'prosperous' (as in 小康).
Where the surname comes from
Tradition traces it to Kang Shu (康叔), a son of King Wen of Zhou first enfeoffed at Kang (康) and later ruler of Wey; his descendants adopted Kang as their surname. Hall name (堂號): 京兆堂.
Saying it 我姓康 — wǒ xìng kāng (ㄨㄛˇ ㄒㄧㄥˋ ㄎㄤ), "my family name is 康"
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).