Mandarin
Chen
Recorded in the Guangxu-era 重修信宜縣志
卷一暂无直接记载。
清光緒十七年《重修信宜縣志》卷一（敖式槱修、梁安甸纂）· 每条附原书页码
陈
Source-backed sample
Chen / Chan (陈)
Chen is one of the most common Chinese surnames, written 陈 in simplified Chinese and 陳 in traditional Chinese. Overseas records may show the same surname as Chen, Chan, Tan, Chin, Tang or Tran depending on dialect and migration history.
Cantonese / Overseas
Chan
Legacy spelling
Ch'en, Chern
Lingnan record status
Under review
No verified Lingnan village link is published in this MVP sample.
Romanization Matrix
| System / Context | Form | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Mandarin Pinyin | Chen | Modern Mainland pinyin spelling for 陈 / 陳. |
| Cantonese / Overseas | Chan | Commonly encountered in Cantonese and many overseas Chinese records; verify against the written character where possible. |
| Hokkien & Teochew (Nanyang) | Tan / Tang | Frequent in Hokkien- and Teochew-speaking communities and in Southeast Asian colonial records. |
| Diaspora & Legacy | Chin / Tran / Ch'en / Zen / Ting | Hakka, Taishanese, Vietnamese and Wu backgrounds may preserve these spellings; Ch'en reflects older Wade-Giles style. |
Origin notes
Chen is one of the most common Chinese surnames, written 陈 in simplified Chinese and 陳 in traditional Chinese. Overseas records may show the same surname as Chen, Chan, Tan, Chin, Tang or Tran depending on dialect and migration history.
Chen / Chan is part of the Lingnan Archive surname library. The page records common romanization patterns and source notes, while leaving clan hall, commandery, generation poem and Lingnan village links empty until stronger public sources verify them. Note that 谭 also romanizes as Tan in Mandarin pinyin — verify against the written character.
For similar spellings, also see Tan / Tam (谭).
Lingnan relevance notes
This page has not yet linked the Chen / Chan surname to a verified Lingnan (Western Guangdong) village record. Submit village sounds, ancestral tablets, tombstone photos or older documents for preliminary review.
Related villages
No verified related village records are published for this surname yet.
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