Lan Family History

Chinese: Mandarin form of the surname 藍 meaning ‘blue’ in Chinese: (i) from the first element of the placename Lan Tian (藍田) the name of a fief (located in present-day Shaanxi province) granted to a noble from the state of Qin during the Warring States period (475–221 BC). (ii) from the placename Lan (藍) the name of a fief (located in Hubei province) granted to a noble in the state of Chu during the Spring and Autumn period (770–476 BC).

Chinese: Mandarin or Cantonese form of the surname 蘭 meaning ‘orchid’ in Chinese: (i) from the personal name Lan (蘭) which was the personal name of Duke Mu of Zheng (ruler of the state of Zheng 648–606 BC). (ii) adopted as a surname by the Wu Luo Lan (烏落蘭) family from the Xianbei ethnic group in northern China during the Northern Wei dynasty (386–534 AD). (iii) traced back to a family from South Huns (48–216 AD located in northern China).

Chinese: variant Romanization of the surname 林 see Lin.

Polish (Łan): perhaps from the vocabulary word łan ‘plowland soil’. Polish (Łań): alternatively perhaps a nickname from a derivative of łania ‘hind doe’.

Vietnamese (Lận): from the Chinese surname 藺 see Lin.