Surname Overview
Overview
Xiang, pronounced xiāng, is a relatively rare Han Chinese surname in current use.
Shanxi Population Record
The fourth population census recorded two people with the Xiang surname in Shanxi Province.
xiāng Surname
Population reference (not a current census): 7xiāng
Origins
Surname from a River Name
Some residents of the Xiang River basin in Hunan adopted the river name Xiang as their surname.
Historical Records
Earliest Attestation
The earliest recorded appearance of the Xiang surname is in the 1971 Taiwan edition of Zhongguo Xingshi Ji.
Migration and Distribution
Ming–Qing Migration
In the early Ming period, Xiang ancestors registered in Pingyang Prefecture, Hongdong County, Zhaocheng County, and nearby places assembled at the Hongdong Great Pagoda Tree by imperial order and migrated elsewhere. By the late Qing period, their descendants were distributed across Henan, Shandong, Hebei, Beijing, Hubei, Hunan, and Shanxi.
Current Distribution
The Xiang surname is found in Xiangtan, Hunan; Beijing; Sheng County, Zhejiang; and the Shuozhou and Lüliang areas of Shanxi.
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