Wan Family History

Chinese: Mandarin form of the surname 萬 which means ‘ten thousand’ literally or ‘very great number’ figuratively: (i) from the personal name of Bi Wan (畢萬) an official in the state of Jin (located in present-day Shanxi province). He was said to be a descendant of Bi Gong Gao (known as Duke of Bi) the 15th son of the virtuous King Wen of Zhou (reined 1152–1056 BC). Bi Wan was later granted the fiefdom of Wei (魏) which in 403 BC became the state of Wei (located in present-day Shanxi Shaanxi Henan and Hebei provinces). Some of his descendants adopted Wei (魏) as their surname while others inherited 萬 (Wan) his personal name as their surname. (ii) from the personal name Wan (萬) style name of Rui Bo (芮伯 the Earl of Rui) an official of the Western Zhou dynasty (1046–771 BC) who was granted the fief Rui (located in Ruicheng in Shaanxi province). Some of his descendants inherited Rui (芮) the name of the fief as their surname while others inherited 萬 (Wan) his style name as their surname. (iii) from the placename Wan (萬) the name of a fief (located in Juxian in Shandong province) granted during the Spring and Autumn period (770–476 BC) to an official in the ancient state of Chu. (iv) from the first element of the name of the Wan Si (萬俟) family who lived in the downstream areas of the Yellow River during the Northern Qi dynasty (550–577 AD). (v) from the second element of the name of the Tu Wan (吐萬) family who are members of the Xianbei ethnic group in northern China. Chinese: Mandarin form of the surname 完 meaning ‘complete’ in Chinese: (i) said to be borne by the descendants of Huan Zhui a grandson of the Duke Huan of Song (ruler of the state of Song died 651 BC). (ii) from Wan (完) the name of Qu Wan (屈完) an official in the state of Chu during the Spring and Autumn Period (770–476 BC). (iii) shortened form of the compound surname Wan-Yan (完顔) a surname from minority ethnic groups such as Juchen ethnic group in ancient northern China. Chinese: Mandarin form of the surname 宛 meaning ‘tortuous’ in Chinese: (i) said to be traced back to Wan Hua (宛華) and Wan Qu (宛朐) two legendary figures prior to the Xia dynasty (2070–1600 BC). (ii) from the placename Wan (宛) the name of a fief (located in present-day Henan province) in the state of Chu during the Spring and Autumn period (770–476 BC). Also this surname had been recorded in the state of Qi Jin and Zheng during the Spring and Autumn period (770–476 BC). Chinese: Cantonese form of the surname 尹 see Yin Chinese: Cantonese form of the surname 溫 see Wen Chinese: Cantonese form of the surnames 雲 and 惲 see Yun 2 and 5.7: Chinese: Cantonese form of the surname 宦 see Huan 8: Chinese: variant Romanization of the surname 袁 see Yuan 9: Chinese: variant Romanization of the surname 阮 see Ruan 10: Vietnamese: possibly a variant of Van .1 Scottish: variant of Wann .

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