Yeung
A common Cantonese romanization of several Chinese surnames, especially one written 楊/杨, meaning the ash tree or poplar.
The #4,556 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 39,674 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Yeung is a Cantonese romanization used for several Chinese surnames, most commonly the surname written 楊 in traditional Chinese and 杨 in simplified Chinese. That surname originally referred to the poplar or ash tree, so its literal sense is botanical. In English-language contexts, Yeung usually reflects a Cantonese reading rather than a separate surname in origin.
History
As Cantonese-speaking migrants and their descendants settled in Hong Kong, Southeast Asia, North America, and other diaspora communities, Yeung became a familiar English spelling for several Chinese family names. Because Chinese surnames are romanized by dialect and local custom, the same Chinese surname may appear in English as Yeung, Yang, Young, or other forms depending on the community and system used. The spelling is therefore more a romanization than a distinct hereditary surname in the European sense.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
The same Chinese surname written 楊/杨 is often spelled Yang in pinyin but Yeung in Cantonese-based systems used by many overseas families.