Surname Overview
Hundred Family Surnames Ranking
Rong ranks 199th in the Song-dynasty edition of the Hundred Family Surnames.
Rong Surname
Population reference (not a current census): 357,295Rong / Jung
Origins
Ji and Mi Lineages
The Rong surname has Ji and Mi lineages. The Ji branches include descendants of Rong Bo of the Western Zhou state of Rong and a Lu lineage that adopted the personal name Rong as its surname; the Mi branch descends from the Chu noble official Rong Ji, also called Rong Huang.
Historical Records
Early Surname Attestation
The earliest stated record of the Rong surname is in the Eastern Han work Fengsu Tong, in its chapter on surnames.
Migration and Distribution
Distribution in the Song and Ming Periods
In the Song period, the Rong population was about 48,000, roughly half of whom lived in Shandong, followed by Hebei, Jiangsu, and Henan. In the Ming period it fell below 20,000 and was concentrated mainly in Jiangxi, Shaanxi, Hunan, Shanxi, Guangdong, and Hebei.
Genealogy and Generation Names
Early Genealogical Lineage
In the Song dynasty, Rong Yin first compiled the Rong genealogy, naming Rong Qiqi as the founding ancestor and Rong Qi as the first-generation ancestor; Rong Yin was placed in the forty-sixth generation. He later moved to Ezhou in Huguang and was honored as the first ancestor of the recent lineage by the Rong families of Wuxi and Bazhou in Hebei.
Research Notes
Differing Locations of the State of Rong
The ancient state of Rong is located in two different places: west of present-day Hu County in Shaanxi and west of present-day Gong County in Henan.
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