One tradition traces the surname to descendants of the ancient fangshi Xianmen, who adopted their ancestor's epithet as their surname and honored Xianmen Zigao as the founding ancestor.
Reference: 羡姓篇 [ 百名诗人•写百家姓• 205 ]|山西|诗歌|望族|冀州|古典诗词_网易订阅
Another account holds that the Wanli Emperor bestowed the character Xian, meaning “having a surplus,” on an ancestor who administered government money and grain.
The surname is included in Xingshi Kaolüe and is recorded as first appearing in Xingyuan.
Prominent Xian lineages were chiefly associated with Julu and Jinyang.
The surname occurs in Xinji, Fuping, and Jixian in Hebei; Taiyuan, Datong, Yuncheng, Changzhi, and Yangquan in Shanxi; Hancheng in Shaanxi; and Hejiang in Sichuan. Jizhou also has three Xian-surname villages: Xianjiazhuang, East Xianjiazhuang, and West Xianjiazhuang.
Start with ancestral counties, villages, personal names and dates. Record genealogy titles, volumes, editions and catalog identifiers. A shared surname does not prove a shared lineage; compare branch records.
These catalogs or datasets attest written names, not every origin or lineage claim on this page.
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