Yen (顏 / 嚴)
2 Taiwanese surnames carry the spelling Yen.
顏 Yen
- Zhuyin
- ㄧㄢˊ
- Pinyin
- yán
- Wade-Giles
- Yen
- Further spellings of 顏
- Yan
- Taiwanese Hokkien (Tâi-lô)
- Gân
- Hakka (Sixian)
- ngien¹¹
- Rank in Taiwan
- 45th most common surname, roughly 0.44% of the population (2023 Ministry of the Interior figures)
What the character means
'Face, countenance'; 'colour'; it also means 'face, reputation' (as in 顏面).
Where the surname comes from
Tradition traces it to Yi Fu (夷父), a ruler of the state of Zhu (邾) whose courtesy name was Yan (顏); his descendants took it as their surname. Its best-known early bearer is Yan Hui (顏回), the disciple of Confucius. Hall name (堂號): 魯國堂.
Saying it 我姓顏 — wǒ xìng yán (ㄨㄛˇ ㄒㄧㄥˋ ㄧㄢˊ), "my family name is 顏"
嚴 Yen
- Zhuyin
- ㄧㄢˊ
- Pinyin
- yán
- Wade-Giles
- Yen
- Further spellings of 嚴
- Yan
- Taiwanese Hokkien (Tâi-lô)
- Giâm
- Hakka (Sixian)
- ngiam¹¹
- Rank in Taiwan
- 89th most common surname, roughly 0.09% of the population (2023 Ministry of the Interior figures)
What the character means
'Strict, severe'; 'serious, solemn'; in old usage it was a respectful term for one's father.
Where the surname comes from
It is largely derived from 莊: in the Eastern Han, families surnamed Zhuang switched to Yan, a word of similar meaning, in order to avoid the personal name of Emperor Ming (劉莊). Hall name (堂號): 天水堂.
Saying it 我姓嚴 — wǒ xìng yán (ㄨㄛˇ ㄒㄧㄥˋ ㄧㄢˊ), "my family name is 嚴"
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).