Guān


Guan is a Chinese surname. Guan is 394th in the Hundred Family Surnames.
In Hong Kong, the surname is romanised as Kwan in Cantonese. In Taiwan, the Wade–Giles spelling Kuan is used. In Macao, the surname is as Kuan due to the Portuguese influence. In addition the surname Cuan is also used in Mexico.
In many overseas Chinese communities, both spellings, Kuan and Kwan, as well as Quan, are common.
It is also a Vietnamese surname that uses the same character, romanised as Quan.
It is also a Japanese surname, Seki, that uses the same character.
The Vietnamese surname, Quan and the Japanese surname, Seki, were derived from the same Chinese character as the Chinese surname.

Origin and timeline

A number of groups in different geographic areas are believed to have shared the surname in history.
  • Guan - meaning is City Gate, or Close the City Gate - originally name for an official, then became a surname.
  • During the 23rd century BCE, Dongfu was a descendant of the ruler Shuan in Chifeng within the old Rehe Province of the Khitan state. Dongfu married a daughter of Emperor Yao's tribe, using the surname Dong, which later became the surname Kwan.
  • In 1650 BCE, during the Xia dynasty, Guan Longfeng was an officer of Jie of Xia's reign.
  • In 643 BCE, during the Zhou dynasty, near Mount Xiao within the nation of Jin, the Ji family used the surname of Dongguan with region name Dongguan. In China it is common for clans possessing the same surname to live in a village together, with their surname designating the name of the village. Later, the Dongguan family branched into two surnames: Dǒng, and Guan. Dongguan Wu was an officer of Jin.
  • In 604 BCE, during the Zhou dynasty, an officer named Yin Xi is reported to have taken the name Guan Yin as his name in public office, designating 關 as his surname. Subsequent generations continued to use 關 as their surname.
  • The surname 關 has also been widely adopted by various non-Chinese ethnic groups from both southern and northern China, such as the Zhuang, De'ang, Mongolian and Manchurian peoples.
  • Around 1080 CE, the surname 關 arrives in the province of Guangdong at Xinhui, five generations later at Kaiping in Guangdong province.
  • During the Jin dynasty (1115–1234), the surname 關 has also been founded by the Jurchen people of the Guaerjia.
  • Near the end of the 19th century, population pressure on the limited arable land in Kaiping county, mainly along the Tan river, induces the rural poor 關 to emigrate overseas, largely to North America and rest to Southeast Asia.

Historical figures

Modern people

Japanese people with the surname Seki (関)

Historical figures

Notable modern people