Chinese Surnames, Strokes, and Elements

Chinese surnames number in the thousands, but a famously small set covers most people: the classical 百家姓 (Bǎi Jiā Xìng, Hundred Family Surnames) compiled in the Song dynasty lists the traditional core, and today roughly a hundred surnames cover the great majority of Chinese families. Our reviewed table carries the 162 most common, each with its traditional-form strokes and element.

Surname strokes matter because the Five Grids (三才五格) are computed over the surname and given name together: the surname's Kangxi strokes set the heaven grid (天格) and combine into the outer and total grids. The same given name therefore scores differently over different surnames, which is why a naming reading always starts from your exact surname character.

Yes. A romanized spelling like Lu covers 卢, 陆, and 吕, Wang covers 王 and 汪, and Xu covers 徐 and 许, distinct families with different characters, strokes, and elements. Diaspora spellings add another layer: Tan, Chan, and Chin all commonly write the surname 陈. Knowing your character matters more than the spelling, and each surname page lists the spellings that resolve to it.

No. The heaven grid is computed from the surname alone, so it is shared by everyone who carries that surname, and the classical reading never judges it in isolation; it matters only as the top of the Three Talents (三才) sequence. A person's reading turns on the given name and the birth chart, both individual, never on the inherited surname number.