5662.
There are 5,662 Chinese surnames found in literature, including 3,484 single surnames, 2,032 compound surnames, and 146 three-character surnames.
This does not include the Chinese surnames translated and changed by the Mongolians and Manchus who immigrated to the Central Plains during the Yuan and Qing dynasties. The surnames of border ethnic minorities translated into Chinese characters are also not included.
The surnames are: Zhao, Qian, Sun, Li, Zhou, Wu, Zheng, Wang, Feng, Chen, Chu, Wei, Jiang, Shen, Han, Yang, Zhu, Qin, You, Xu, He, Lu, Shi, Zhang, Kong, Cao, Yan, Hua, Jin, Wei, Tao, Jiang, Qi, Xie, Zou, Yu, Bai, Shui, Dou;
Zhang, Yun, Su , Pan, Ge, Xi, Fan, Peng, Lang, Lu, Wei, Chang, Ma, Miao, Feng, Hua, Fang, Yu, Ren, Yuan, Liu, Feng, Bao, Shi, Tang, Fei, Lian, Cen , Xue, Lei, He, Ni, Tang, Teng, Yin, Luo, Bi, Hao, Wu, An, Chang;
Le, Yu, Shi, Fu, Pi, Bian, Qi, Kang, Wu, Yu, Yuan, Bu, Gu, Meng, Ping, Huang, He, Mu, Xiao, Yin, Yao, Shao, Zhan, Wang, Qi, Mao, Yu, Di, Mi, Bei, Ming, Zang, Ji, Fu, Cheng, Dai, Tan, Song, Mao, Pang;
Xiong, Ji, Shu, Qu, Xiang, Zhu, Dong, Liang, Du, Ruan, Lan, Min, Xi, Ji, Ma , Qiang, Jia, Lu, Lou, Wei, etc.
The naming of surnames:
1. Taking the surname as the surname
The surname came into being as a symbol of the clan tribe during the clan commune period, and it was convenient for future generations. Directly inherited as a surname. In matrilineal society, mother was the surname, so many surnames at that time had the character next to the female character. Such as Ji, Jiang, Si, Yao, etc.
2. Name the country as a surname
For example, the vassal states during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period: Qi, Lu, Jin, Song, Zheng, Wu, Huang, Yue, Qin, Chu, Wei , Han, Zhao, Wei, Yan, Chen, Cai, Cao, Hu, Xu, etc. have all become common surnames.
3. Taking the name of a town as a surname
A town is a fief, which is a fiefdom assigned by the emperor and the kings of various vassal states to officials with the same or different surnames. Some of their descendants or people living in these fiefs inherited their surnames. For example, in the Spring and Autumn Period of Jin Dynasty, Xun first settled in Zhi (now Yongji City, Shanxi Province), and later became the Zhi family. According to statistics, there are nearly 200 surnames with Yi as their surname. Such as Yin, Wei, Han, etc.
4. Taking the name of Xiangting as a surname
This type of situation is rare. Common surnames today include Pei, Lu, Yan, Hao, Ouyang, etc. ?
5. Taking the surname as the place of residence
It is said that in ancient times, Yu and Shun came out of Yao Xu and took Yao as their surname. During the Spring and Autumn Period, the officials of the Qi State's duke family lived in Dongguo, Nanguo, Xiguo, and Beiguo respectively, so they took Dongguo, Nanguo, etc. as their surnames.
Doctor Zheng lived in Ximen, so he took Ximen as his surname. Prince Zhuang of Lu lived in Dongmen of Lu and was called Dongmen Sui, taking Dongmen as his surname.
Reference for the above content? Baidu Encyclopedia-Chinese Surnames