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Song Family History

Song Name Meaning

Korean: written 송 in Chinese characters 宋 denoting the Song kingdom. There are actually two Chinese characters for this surname covering sixteen clans. The smaller clan is the only clan to use another one of the two Chinese characters and it has only one or two households. The remaining clans all descend from a common ancestor Song Chu-ŭn (宋 株殷) who seems to have migrated from Tang China to Korea sometime during the Shilla period. Sixty percent of the Songs live in southern Korea. Korean (Sŏng): written 성 in Chinese characters 成 meaning ‘success’. There are actually two Chinese characters for the surname Sŏng but one of them is registered for just a single household. Only the common Sŏng clan the Ch’angnyŏng clan is treated here. This was founded by Sŏng In-bo (成 仁輔) just prior to the establishment of the Koryŏ kingdom in 918. According to legend Sŏng In-bo died in Seoul. His son set out to transport his father's body back to Ch’angnyŏng but the weather being poor he decided to stop for the night and finish the journey in the morning. When he awoke he discovered that his father's body was missing. Upon investigation he found that a tiger had dragged the body to a secluded grave site in the mountains near Ch’angnyŏng. It was there that the son buried his father and established his home. Many of the members of the Sŏng clan today live in the Ch’angnyŏng area of Kyŏngsang province. Compare Sung 5. Chinese: Mandarin form and Cantonese variant of the surname 宋: (i) from Song (宋) the name of a state (located in Shangqiu in Henan province) granted to Wei Ziqi by King Wu of Zhou (c. 1087–1043 BC). After the state was annexed by the state of Qi (located mainly in present-day Shandong province) in 286 BC some descendants of the royal family from the state adopted 宋 the name of the state as their surname. (ii) said to be traced back to the personal name Song (宋) personal name of a prince in the state of Zheng during the Spring and Autumn period (770–476 BC). Chinese: Mandarin form of the surname 松 meaning ‘pine tree’ in Chinese: It was said that Qin Shi Huang (259–210 BC) the first emperor of the Qin dynasty (221–206 BC) once took shelter from the rain under a giant pine tree on his way back to the palace after a ceremony. He later honored the tree and the local residents nearby adopted Song (松) as a surname. Chinese: Cantonese form of the surname 桑 see Sang Chinese: Hakka form of the surname 常 see Chang 7: Southeast Asian (Hmong): variant of Xiong 8: Cambodian: written សុង of Chinese origin but unexplained etymology (probably corresponding to one of the surnames above). The surname សុង also corresponds to the archaic Khmer word meaning ‘(to be) black as night’.

Source: Dictionary of American Family Names 2nd edition, 2022


Similar surnames: Kong, Rong, Hong, Gong, Yong, Son, Pong, Long, Tong, Sang

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Where is the Song family from?

You can see how Song families moved over time by selecting different census years. The Song family name was found in the USA, the UK, Canada, and Scotland between 1840 and 1920. The most Song families were found in USA in 1920. In 1911 there were 69 Song families living in British Columbia. This was about 52% of all the recorded Song's in Canada. British Columbia had the highest population of Song families in 1911.
Use census records and voter lists to see where families with the Song surname lived. Within census records, you can often find information like name of household members, ages, birthplaces, residences, and occupations.

What did your Song ancestors do for a living?

In 1921, Laundryman and At Home were the top reported jobs for men and women in the Canada named Song. 19% of Song men worked as a Laundryman and 100% of Song women worked as an At Home. .

View Census Data for Song | Data not to scale

*We display top occupations by gender to maintain their historical accuracy during times when men and women often performed different jobs.

Top Male Occupations In 1921

  • Laundryman
    19%
  • Labourer
    17%
  • Farmer
    15%
  • Cook
    15%

Top Female Occupations In 1921

  • At Home
    100%
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What Song family records will you find?

Census Records

There are 12,000 census records available for the last name Song. Like a window into their day-to-day life, Song census records can tell you where and how your ancestors worked, their level of education, veteran status, and more.

Search Canadian census records for Song

Passenger Lists

There are 7,000 immigration records available for the last name Song. Passenger lists are your ticket to knowing when your ancestors arrived in Canada, and how they made the journey - from the ship name to ports of arrival and departure.

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Draft Cards

There are 4,000 military records available for the last name Song. For the veterans among your Song ancestors, military collections provide insights into where and when they served, and even physical descriptions.

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What is the average Song lifespan?

Between 1956 and 2004, in the United States, Song life expectancy was at its lowest point in 1977, and highest in 1965. The average life expectancy for Song in 1956 was 62, and 68 in 2004.

View Social Security Death Index (SSDI) for Song

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