Family name origins & meanings
- Chinese :
from the name of a place called Fan, which
existed during the Zhou dynasty. The Western Zhou dynasty’s
penultimate king, Xuan Wang (827–781 bc), executed a direct
descendant of the model emperor Yao. The latter’s son fled to the
state of Jin, where he became a distinguished general and was granted
the area called Fan. His descendants adopted the place name as their
surname. - Chinese :
from a different place of the
same period, also written in English as Fan. Zhong Shanfu, a
senior adviser to Xuan Wang (827–781 BC), the penultimate king of
the Western Zhou dynasty, is considered to have been a major factor in
the exceptional success of this king during a period of generally
declining authority for the Zhou kings. He was successful in
conquering and pacifying tribes to the north, south, and west, and for
this service he was granted the area of Fan. His descendants took the
place name Fan as their surname.