Teng
A surname found in several European naming traditions, often linked to short old personal-name forms rather than a single clear meaning.
The #9,473 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 89,935 Americans shares it.
Etymology
The excerpts point to Teng as a short continental Germanic surname, with related forms in German and Dutch such as Tang, Tange, Tenger, and Tinga. Some older writers seem to connect it with a diminutive or shortened personal name, while others place it among names derived from older Germanic roots that are not easy to separate cleanly. The evidence does not give one secure literal meaning, so the safest reading is that it is a traditional nickname- or personal-name-based surname of Germanic origin.
History
The name appears in 19th-century surname lists from German-speaking and Dutch contexts, where it is grouped with several closely related variants. The citations do not establish one single family line or migration story, but they do show that Teng was already recognized as a surname form in more than one region. In English-language sources it is mentioned only in passing, suggesting it was comparatively uncommon in Britain and more often associated with continental usage.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
One historical source groups Teng with a cluster of very short surnames that may have started as reduced forms of older given names, showing how brief surnames can preserve surprisingly old naming patterns.
From the historical record
“family. NEIGHBOUR tEng.) [O.E. n^ah-{ge)hur~n^ah, ijigh ; gejbiir, husbandman, boor] NEIL NEILE NEILL”
— Surnames of the United Kingdom: a concise etymological dictionary (2 vols in 1)Notable people named Teng
- Teresa Teng (1953–1995)
Sourced from Wikidata; linked to their Wikipedia page.