Lian Surname

Surname Overview

Population

The contemporary Lian surname population is about 160,000, accounting for approximately 0.013% of China's population.

Reference: 廉氏家谱网 提供2个省区市的3部廉氏家谱、廉氏族谱

Origins

Ancient Origins

One account derives the Lian surname from the Ying lineage: descendants of Qin Dalian, a descendant of Zhuanxu, adopted an ancestor's courtesy name as their surname. Another traces it to Zhongyan, a descendant of Boyi who was styled Feilian, whose descendants adopted that designation as their surname.

Reference: 廉氏家谱网 提供2个省区市的3部廉氏家谱、廉氏族谱

Surname Adoption in the Yuan Dynasty

During the Yuan dynasty, the Uyghur official Buluhaiya served as a surveillance commissioner and, following the precedent of deriving surnames from offices, gave his son the surname Lian. The Wuxi Lian genealogy records that the son changed his surname because of his father's office.

Reference: 廉氏家谱网 提供2个省区市的3部廉氏家谱、廉氏族谱

Migration and Distribution

Present-Day Distribution

The Lian surname is concentrated mainly in Henan, Hunan, Shanxi, Hebei, and Liaoning. Henan has the largest population, containing about half of all people with the surname.

Reference: 廉氏家谱网 提供2个省区市的3部廉氏家谱、廉氏族谱

Migration to Suzhou and Wuxi

Lian Yunzhong, the eighth-generation descendant of Buluhaiya, established registration in Suzhou. The twelfth-generation descendant Lian Xu became the founding migrant ancestor in Wuxi, and the nineteenth-generation descendant Lian Huang later founded a branch from Wuxi's North Gate.

Reference: 廉氏家谱网 提供2个省区市的3部廉氏家谱、廉氏族谱

Genealogy and Generation Names

Wuxi Genealogy and Hall Name

The Wuxi Lian Clan Genealogy comprises fourteen main volumes, one introductory volume, and one supplementary volume. It was printed with wooden movable type in 1893, under the hall name Kongjietang.

Reference: 廉氏家谱网 提供2个省区市的3部廉氏家谱、廉氏族谱