Wang is a royalty rank and a surname in China and Korea.
This article is about Wang as surnames. See Chinese noble and Korean nobility for royalty rank.
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2 Korean surname 3 Prominent people with surname 왕 4 Prominent people with family name 王 5 Prominent people with family name 汪 6 Other |
Chinese surname
Wang (王 in pinyin: Wáng; in penkyamp & Jyutping: Wong4) is the commonest Chinese family name and literally means "king" (See Chinese noble#Wang), although the name itself has no royal implications. The "-ang" sound in pinyin is supposed to be pronounced as in German and so the name is frequently mispronounced by English speakers. The name is also frequently transliterated "Wong" especially for people from Hong Kong or from Guangdong. This other transliteration sounds much more similar to the Chinese pronunciation.
Wang is also the pinyin transliteration of 汪.
It is also is the Cantonese Romanization of some uncommon family names: 橫 (Pinyin: Héng), 弘 (Hóng), 閎 (Hóng), 宏 (Hóng).
Korean surname
Wang is a Korean family name 왕 but very rare in Korea. The Goryeo Dynasty royal family name was Wang. However, after the Goryeo Dynasty fell, the royal Wangs changed their surname to avoid severe persecution from the subsequent Joseon Dynasty.
Prominent people with surname 왕
Prominent people with family name 王
Prominent people with family name 汪
Other
Wang is also a slang term for the penis.