Zhang

Spellings & scripts●

Locally spelled Чжан in RU Russia, UA Ukraine, KZ Kazakhstan and 1 more, Chang in TW Taiwan, MY Malaysia, Жанг in SE Sweden and Tsang in PL Poland.

Spellings marked ● are how people bearing the name write it in our records; ○ marks a model's transliteration. Click a spelling to open its page.

Meaning & origin●

Attested across 4 languages in the etymology graph.

Languages●

Language is read off each record's context, not declared by the bearer; a share is of all records for this spelling.

Other names spelled this way◐

Zhang is also recorded as 6 other names, grouped separately because the records behind them do not connect to the one described above.

• French surname311K records spelled Zhang4 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in France, China, Spain, United States

  Languages: French, Portuguese, Catalan

  Also written Zhāng

• a separate surname191K records spelled Zhang2 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, China, United Kingdom, Hong Kong

  Also written Zhāng

• Danish surname45K records spelled Zhang6 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Denmark, China, Norway, United States

  Languages: Danish, Norwegian Bokmål, Swedish

  Also written Zhâng

• Indonesian surname19K records spelled Zhang2 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in China, Indonesia, United States, Singapore

  Also written Žhãng

• Polish surname18K records spelled Zhang2 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Poland, China, United States, United Kingdom

  Also written Zhāng

• Croatian surname18K records spelled Zhang23 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in China, United States, Croatia, Bulgaria

  Languages: Croatian, Bulgarian, Slovenian

  Also written Джанг, Жанг, Dzang, Jhang, Džang

83 further groups record this spelling and are not listed here.

Grouping is the name graph's, not a register's: two spellings join a group when the evidence links them, so a group is a claim about the records rather than about the people.

Other recorded senses●

Zhang is also recorded in 5 other lexicons, as a different name or as an ordinary word. These are senses of the spelling, not of the name above.

• In English, A traditional Chinese unit of length, 10 Chinese feet or ¹/₁₅₀ Chinese mile.

  as a word·kaikki.org Wiktionary extract (IPA + transliterations)

• In och, make long, stretch, extend, draw (a bow)

  as a word·Schuessler, ABC Etymological Dictionary of Old Chinese (2007)

• In Filipino, a Chinese surname from Mandarin

  as a word·kaikki.org Wiktionary extract (IPA + transliterations)

• In Chinese, nonstandard spelling of zhāng

  as a word·kaikki.org Wiktionary extract (IPA + transliterations)

• In och, tense, tight

  as a word·Schuessler, ABC Etymological Dictionary of Old Chinese (2007)

Ordered by how much of this spelling's record each language holds, so a sense from a language the name is barely used in sits last rather than first.

Over time●

EC INEC — Visualizador de Nombres y Apellidos, per-token query API (1900–2024) — 75 years between 1948–2024. One register's own figures, never a sum across registers: two registers counting the same people would double them.

Notable people with this name●

• Zhang Qianb. 200CNimperial envoy to the world outside of China in the 2nd century BC
• Jang Sung-taekb. 1946KPnot in their usual nameNorth Korean government official (1946–2013)
• Zhang Yimoub. 1950CNChinese filmmaker
• Yitang Zhangb. 1955CNChinese-born American mathematician
• Leslie Cheungb. 1956CNnot in their usual nameHong Kong singer and actor (1956–2003)
• Maggie Cheungb. 1964GBnot in their usual nameHong Kong actress
• Michael Changb. 1972USnot in their usual nameAmerican tennis player (born 1972)
• Chang Chenb. 1976TWnot in their usual nameTaiwanese actor
• Zhang Ziyib. 1979CNChinese actress and model
• Meng'er Zhangb. 1987CNChinese actress

The ten people covered by the most Wikipedia language editions — a proxy for cross-cultural notability, which favours historical and Western figures over equally prominent contemporary ones — shown by birth year. Source: Wikidata (CC0).

Evidence●

Register rows as of the 2026-09-12 data build · 222 rows in the corpus for this spelling.

Frequently asked questions

How common is the name Zhang?

We estimate roughly 110 thousand people bear Zhang (counting its spellings and scripts) across 12 countries in our records.

In which country does Zhang have the most bearers?

Zhang is most frequently recorded in China, where it is most often spelled zhang.

How common is Zhang compared with other names?

In China, Zhang is the 6th most common surname of 134,008 surnames recorded there.

What does the name Zhang mean?

Recorded meaning: (i) ‘stretch open a bow’; (ii) ‘person from Zhang’, an area in present-day Shandong.