According to the website of the Ministry of Public Security, Chinese name culture has a long history and rich connotations, humanistic feelings, folk customs, historical accumulation, social development, cultural integration, spiritual interest, etc., after thousands of years of accumulation and evolution, a unique tradition and civilization have been formed. The name inherits people's feelings, intentions, and aspirations; it contains people's essence, qi, and spirit. Exploring the profound, long-standing, inclusive, harmonious and different national spirit of the mainland name culture inheritance is the cultural mission shouldered by contemporary Chinese people.
Since 2018, the Household Administration Research Center of the Ministry of Public Security has released a national name report for three consecutive years, which has received great attention and warm response from the society, and major mainstream media have reprinted reports, and related topics have repeatedly occupied the news hot search list. All sectors of society generally believe that the national name report is of great significance to the inheritance and development of Chinese name culture, and has great reference value for children's names. Follow-up studies have shown that the release of the national name report for three consecutive years has effectively guided the standardization of the use of names in the registration of citizens, greatly improved the timeliness of newborn household registration, significantly enhanced the cultural connotation of newborn names, carried forward the name culture, and highlighted cultural self-confidence. In 2021, relying on the population information management system of the Ministry of Public Security, the Household Administration Research Center of the Ministry of Public Security used big data technology to conduct statistical analysis of the use of newborn names, common surnames, common personal names and geographical distribution in the country, and once again released the national name report.
1. The use of words in the name of the newborn
As of December 31, 2021, a total of 8.873 million newborns born in 2021 and registered with the public security organs were registered, of which 4.681 million were male newborns, accounting for 52.75%, and 4.192 million were female newborns, accounting for 47.25%. The 10 cities with the largest number of newborns born and registered at or above the prefecture level are: Chongqing, Chengdu, Guangzhou, Beijing, Bijie, Linyi, Zhoukou, Shenzhen, Xi'an and Zhengzhou.
(a) The 50 most used names of newborns in 2021
Among the names of newborns born in 2021 and have been registered for household registration, the 50 words with the highest frequency of use are Ze, Zi, Zi, Yu, Mu, etc. Compared with 2020, the words Xi, Rui, Lin, and Hang are favored. (See Table 1 for details)
(ii) The 10 most used names for male newborns in 2021
Among the male newborns born in 2021 and have been registered for household registration, the 10 names with the highest frequency of use are: Mu Chen, Hao Yu, Mu Chen, Ming Ze, Yi Chen, Yu Ze, Hao Ran, Yi Ze, Yu Xuan, and Mu Yang. Compared with 2020, except for Haoyu, Yichen and Yuxuan, the rest of the names entered the top ten for the first time, of which the number of users of "Muchen" reached 23,000, reaching the top of the list and becoming the first choice for male newborn names. (See Table 2 for details)
(iii) The 10 most used names for female newborns in 2021
Among the female newborns born in 2021 and have been registered for household registration, the 10 names with the highest frequency of use are: Ruoxi, Yinuo, Yihan, Yihan, Yinuo, Zihan, Maomu, Yutong, Xinyi, Yutong, and Yuxi. Compared with 2020, Ruoxi, Yihan and Xiangmu entered the top ten for the first time, of which the number of users of "Ruoxi" reached 18,000, reaching the top of the list and becoming the first choice for female newborn names. (See Table 3 for details)
2. Geographical distribution of common surnames
Surnames have obvious geographical distribution characteristics in the mainland, and the traditional distribution of surnames according to blood and geography has gradually formed the current distribution pattern due to the influence of successive regime changes, economic development, population migration, ethnic integration and other factors.
From the overall distribution, common surnames are widely distributed, and are distributed in 31 provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities) across the country, but there is also a certain spatial aggregation. The province with the largest population distribution among the 22 surnames, including Wang, Li, and Zhang, is Henan; the province with the largest population distribution among the 20 surnames, including Chen, Huang, and Wu, is Guangdong; the province with the largest population distribution among the twelve surnames of Liu, Sun, and Gao is Shandong; the province with the largest population distribution of the eleven surnames, including Zhou, Tang, and Peng; the province with the largest population distribution of the nine surnames xu, Zhu, and Ding is Jiangsu; the province with the largest population distribution of the five surnames of Pan, Lu, and Wei is Guangxi; and the province with the largest population distribution of the five surnames of Yang, He, and Luo is Sichuan The province with the largest population distribution among the four surnames cheng, wang, and fang is Anhui; the province with the three surnames Zou, Xiong, and Wan is Jiangxi; the province with the largest population distribution of the two surnames of Bai and Hao is Hebei; the province with the largest population distribution of the two surnames of Jin and Mao is Zhejiang; the province with the largest population distribution of the two surnames of Hu and Yu is Hubei; and the province with the largest population distribution of the surnames Of Wu, Duan, and Ma is Shanxi, Yunnan, and Gansu, respectively. (See Table 4 for details)
The characteristics of common compound surname "settlement" are very prominent, and the distribution of the compound surname population in individual provinces is relatively concentrated. For example, 33.86% of the population with the compound surname "Ouyang" is distributed in Hunan; 22.05% of the population with the compound surname "Shangguan" is distributed in Fujian; 32.72% of the population of the compound surname "Huangfu" is distributed in Henan; 75.60% of the population of the compound surname "Linghu" is distributed in Guizhou; 31.06% of the population of the compound surname "Zhuge" is distributed in Zhejiang; 88.19% of the population of the compound surname "Situ" is distributed in Guangdong; 30.28% of the population of the compound surname "Sima" is distributed in Henan; 95.15% of the population with the compound surname "ShenTu" is distributed in Henan. The population is distributed in Zhejiang; 74.87% of the population with the compound surname "Xiahou" is distributed in Jiangxi; 17.89% of the population with the compound surname "Helan" is distributed in Hunan; 58.56% of the population with the compound surname "Guanyan" is distributed in Henan; 70.94% of the population with the compound surname "Murong" is distributed in Guangdong; 27.64% of the population with the compound surname "Wei Chi" is distributed in Hebei; and 97.02% of the population with the compound surname "Changsun" is distributed in Shaanxi. (See Table 5 for details)
3. Geographical distribution of common names
Through statistical analysis of the geographical distribution of common names, we found that names also have specific geographical distribution characteristics. Among the national household registration population, in addition to surnames, single-character names accounted for 13.97%, two-character names accounted for 84.55%, and other word-count names accounted for 1.48%.
(1) The 10 most used word names in the country and their geographical distribution
Among the national household registration population, the 10 single-character names with the highest frequency of use are: Wei, Min, Jing, Jie, Li, Yong, Tao, Yan, Jun, and Qiang. Among them, "Wei" ranked first, with 3.236 million users. The words used more by men are wei, jie, yong, tao, jun, and qiang; the words that are more used by women are named min, jing, li, and yan. (See Table 6 for details)
The 10 single character names most used in the country are relatively concentrated in Sichuan, Shandong, Anhui, Henan, Jiangsu, Hubei, Hunan, Liaoning and other provinces. In addition, 6.20% of "Min", 5.29% of "Li", 6.17% of "Yong", 8.09% of "Yan" are distributed in Guizhou; 6.29% of "Jing" is distributed in Hebei; 6.15% of "Yong" is distributed in Chongqing; and 5.25% of "Tao" is distributed in Shaanxi. (See Table 7 for details)
(2) The 10 most used two-character names and geographical distribution in the country
Among the national household registration population, the 10 most frequently used two-character names are: Xiuying, Guiying, Xiulan, Yulan, Tingting, Jianhua, Guilan, Yumei, Xiuzhen, and Haiyan. Among them, "Xiuying" ranked first, with 2.169 million users. The two-character name that is more used by men is only "Jianhua"; the rest of the common two-character names are more used by women, and the repetition rate is significantly higher than that of men. (See Table 8 for details)
The 10 most used two-character names in the country are relatively concentrated in Shandong, Henan, Sichuan, Jiangsu, Hebei, Hunan, Anhui and other provinces. In addition, 5.24% of "Guiying" is distributed in Jiangxi; 5.79% of "Tingting", 6.81% of "Xiuzhen" and 8.07% of "Haiyan" are distributed in Guangdong; 5.91% and 5.23% of "Jianhua" are distributed in Jiangxi and Zhejiang; 7.37%, 7.35%, and 5.18% of "Guilan" is distributed in Liaoning, Heilongjiang and Jilin; and 5.42% of "Xiuzhen" is distributed in Guangxi. (See Table 9 for details)
Fourth, the name of the knowledge: naming rules and customs
The culture of people's names on the mainland has a long history, and the production of writing has enabled people to have the unique identity of the name expressed in words. The long history and culture have created a unique culture of personal names, and in different historical periods, people have followed different rules and customs in naming names.
During the Spring and Autumn Period, the names were given to the "five categories" and "six noes", that is, "there are five names, there are faiths, there are righteousness, there are elephants, there are falses, there are categories" and "not to the country, not to the officials, not to the mountains, not to hide diseases, not to livestock, not to be named as instruments". For example, Confucius "was born to go to the top of the polder, so because of his name Qiu Yun", it is for "there is an elephant". When Confucius's son was born, "man has a fish to feed, and because of his name is a carp", it is for "false".
During the Two Han Dynasties, the name was based on the fashion of respecting holiness and elegance, while embodying boldness and enterprising, and advocating heroism and martial prowess. For example, the Western Han Dynasty diplomat Su Wu, the Eastern Han Guangwu Emperor Liu Xiu, the military scholar Ban Chao, and the historian Ban Gu.
During Wang Mang's reign, the name was banned by double characters, and the "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" could hardly see the double-character names.
During the Wei and Jin Dynasties, the two-character was popular in the name, and the word "zigzag" was used. For example, the Eastern Jin Dynasty calligrapher Wang Xizhi and his son Wang Xianzhi.
During the Tang and Song dynasties, the custom of taking names by generation was gradually formed, that is, the first word of the name showed the generations. The Song Dynasty liked to use the five elements to order the generations, taking the meaning of the five elements, water born of wood, wood made of fire, and fire gave birth to earth. For example, the Southern Song Dynasty Minister Zhang Jun, Zi Zhang Yu, Sun Zhang Zhuo.
From the Ming and Qing dynasties to the Republic of China, it was widely popular to take the name of the characters, and the commonly used characters were mostly "poetry heirloom", "purple qi donglai", "zunkong chongru" and so on.
In contemporary times, although people's names are no longer limited to the complicated rules of ancient naming, but more to express ideals and beliefs, advocate admiration, commemorative meaning and blessings and praise, the inheritance meaning of names has never changed.
2022 is the year of Nongyin. On the occasion of the Lunar New Year, a traditional festival of the Chinese nation, we sincerely wish the people of all ethnic groups throughout the country a happy, happy and healthy New Year! I wish the great motherland prosperity and strength, and the country and the people are safe!