Chinese surnames appear before given names. Surnames have one character mostly, two occasionally, and very rarely more than two. Surnames were originally derived matrilineally in the matriarchal society until the Shang Dynasty (1766 BC – 1122 BC). It is why the character 姓 (”surname”) has a 女 (”female”) radical. Historically, they originated from various sources including mothers' names, animals, kingdoms, towns, places, titles, ranks and professions etc. Among the most common 100 surnames used by 87% of the Chinese population, there are 19 (李、王、张、刘、陈、杨、赵、黄、周、吴、徐、孙、胡、朱、高、林、何、郭、马) that account for more than 1% each, and 3 (李、王、张) that account for more than 7% each.

Chinese given names traditionally have two characters, with the first one being shared by all siblings and even cousins with the same paternal grandfather, but many have just one character nowadays. Names tend to use characters referring to nature, e.g., 天、地、山、石、云、峰、松、柏、路、林、江、河、海、洋、春、夏、秋、冬、竹、兰、梅、菊、风、雪、雷、雨， characters implying certain virtues, qualities or talents, e.g. 德、才、艺、智、文、华、威、伟、美、丽、芬、芳、香、俊、爱、慈、恩、乐、喜、欢、力、灵、正、义、君，characters suggesting ambitions and wishes for health, luck, prosperity and longevity, e.g. 康、健、丰、发、兴、昌、达、志、成、顺、祥、富、贵、寿、安、平，characters indicating “largeness” or “humility”, e.g. 大、小、巨、微，and characters with particular radicals to balance Five Elements (五行), e.g. 钢、杨、洪、煌、坦, and so on.

Read original blog post