Most Chinese share just 100 family names

BEIJING (Reuters) - Almost 85 percent of Chinese people share just 100 surnames, with Wang, which literally means "king", being the most popular, the official Xinhua news agency said on Tuesday.

There are 93 million Wangs in China, followed closely by 92 million people with the family name Li and 88 million called Zhang, Xinhua said, citing newly-announced calculations by the Ministry of Public Security.

Another seven common names -- including Chen, Zhou and Lin -- have at last 20 million members each, it added.

Chinese family names can be traced back thousands of years and people generally feel a closeness to those with the same surname.

But there are also some family names which are only used by a very few people, such as Guo, meaning to "cross over", and Mu, which means "mother".