姓 (xìng) is a Chinese character meaning “surname”. It is written from 女 (woman; female) and 生 (to be born; to grow; raw; life), side by side, and takes 8 strokes.
Build the character for “surname”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
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Structure
女 + 生
Left–right structure
Structure from: 现代字形拆分（IDS ⿰女生；笔画核验 女3 + 生5 = 8）
Memory aid
女 (woman) on the left, 生 (to be born) on the right: the name you are born with, passed down through the family line.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
8 strokes
In real words
- 姓名xìng míngfull name (surname + given name)姓 = xìng
- 姓氏xìng shìsurname; family name姓 = xìng
- 姓冯xìng féngto be surnamed Feng姓 = xìng
Go deeper
All readings
surname
surname; family name; to be surnamed
表明家族的字；也用作动词，表示以某字为姓。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 姓名xìng míngfull name (surname + given name)姓 = xìng
- 姓氏xìng shìsurname; family name姓 = xìng
- 姓冯xìng féngto be surnamed Feng姓 = xìng
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 姓 mean?
姓 (xìng) means surname; family name; to be surnamed.
How do you pronounce 姓?
It is pronounced xìng.
What parts is 姓 made of?
女 (woman; female) and 生 (to be born; to grow; raw; life), side by side. The recorded source is: 现代字形拆分（IDS ⿰女生；笔画核验 女3 + 生5 = 8）. Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 姓 have?
8. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 姓?
女. The radical is how the character is filed in a dictionary — it is not the whole story of how the character is built.
What words use 姓?
Common ones are 姓名 and 姓氏. The reading of 姓 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.