Zeng
A Chinese surname, most commonly linked to the ancient name Zēng (曾), with deep roots in classical China.
The #4,662 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 40,598 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Zeng is a Chinese surname most commonly written 曾 in Mandarin. In standard pinyin, it is pronounced Zēng and is traditionally explained as an inherited family name from ancient Chinese lineages rather than a descriptive label. The character 曾 had older uses in Chinese history and literature, and the surname became established long before modern surname systems were fixed.
History
The surname is well known in China and in overseas Chinese communities, especially through migration in the 19th and 20th centuries. It is shared by many unrelated branches that adopted the same written surname. In modern usage, English-language records often spell it as Zeng, following pinyin romanization.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
In pinyin, Zeng is written with an initial Z, but its pronunciation is closer to "dzung" than to the English word "zeng".