Tag: Ding

Ding (Chinese: 丁; pinyin: Dīng; Wade–Giles: Ting) is the simplest written Chinese family name in existence (the only two characters that are simpler are “一” and “乙”). It is written in two strokes and is first on the Chinese surname stroke order.
Ding is the 46th most common surname in China. There are four main hypothesised sources of Ding:
The hometown of Dings is supposedly northwest of Dingtao, Shandong.
Among the Chinese Muslims, the surname Ding is thought to originate from the last syllable of the Arabic honorific “ud-Din” or “al-Din” (as in, for example, the name of the Bukharan Muslim Sayyid Ajjal Shams ud-Din (1210–1279; also spelled al-Din), who was appointed Governor of Yunnan by the Mongol Yuan dynasty).
In particular, descent from Sayyid Ajjal Shams ud-Din, known in Chinese as Saidianchi Shansiding (赛典赤赡思丁), is attested in the Ding lineage of Chendai, near Quanzhou, Fujian.
Although they do not practise Islam, the Ding clan remains as one of the better-known Hui clans…