HSK 2 · Pronouns

姓 xìng “surname” in Chinese

Same in Traditional

What 姓 means

  1. to be surnamed
  2. family name

How to say 姓

  • Pitch chart of the fourth tone: falls from high to low, 5 to 1 on the five-level scale姓xìng4th tone, falling

姓 in a sentence

  1. 我姓周。

    Wǒ xìng Zhōu.

    My surname is Zhou.

    Sentence #347302 from Tatoeba

  2. 我不知道他的姓。

    Wǒ bù zhīdao tā de xìng.

    I don’t know his surname.

    Sentence #4815106 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

  3. 我跟我妈妈姓。

    Wǒ gēn wǒ māma xìng.

    I take my mother’s surname.

    Sentence #13947397 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

How 姓 is built

Each colour is one part of the character. Parts repeat across thousands of characters, so learning them makes new words easier. See all 214 in our radicals chart.

The character 姓 (xìng) with each of its parts in a different colour
姓xìngfamily name; surname
  • 女woman · nǚMeaning part
  • 生life · shēngSound part

女 hints at the meaning (woman); 生 (shēng) hints at the sound. Compare it with xìng.

Memory aidA woman 女 and birth 生: the family name you are born into.

How to write 姓

姓 8 strokes

Watch the order, then press Try writing it and draw each stroke in the grid. Each stroke is checked as you go.

姓 (xìng) stroke order chart: each stroke of the character in the order you write it
Stroke order chart for 姓 (xìng). Red marks the next stroke, so you can copy it onto paper one step at a time.

Words related to 姓

Words with 姓

姓名xìngmíng · full name老百姓lǎobǎixìng · ordinary people

More words: People, Body & Health

姐姐jiějie · older sister弟弟dìdi · younger brother妹妹mèimei · younger sister孩子háizi · child丈夫zhàngfu · husband生病shēngbìng · to get sick眼睛yǎnjing · eye身体shēntǐ · body

FAQs

姓 (xìng) means “to be surnamed” or “family name”. It is an HSK 2 word, so it is one of the words learners meet early.
Say it xìng: xìng with a 4th tone. Press Listen at the top of this page to hear it, or Slowly to hear each tone clearly.
Yes. 姓 is written the same way in Simplified and Traditional characters.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type xing with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 姓 from the suggestions. Typing xing into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
姓 is an HSK 2 word in the HSK 2.0 word lists.

Turn words into conversations

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Sources: meaning and pinyin checked by a native Mandarin teacher against the official HSK lists. Extra meanings from CC-CEDICT (CC BY-SA 4.0). Example sentences from Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR). Character parts and stroke order from Make Me a Hanzi.