The tong Surname
tong Name Meaning and History
- Chinese
: variant of Tang 2. - Chinese
: variant of Tang 3. - Chinese
: from a modification of the character Zhong
(
). In the Xia dynasty (2205–1766 bc), there
existed a senior adviser whose name was Zhonggu. Much later, in the
Ming dynasty (1368–1644 ad), some descendants settled along
a river that became known as the Tong Family river. As the Manchus
moved southwards, some took up residence by this river and they too
adopted Tong as their surname. - Chinese
: from Lao Tong, the ‘style name’ given to a son of
Zhuan Xu, legendary emperor of the 26th century bc. Two of
his sons became important advisers to the next emperor, Ku. Some
descendants of Lao Tong adopted a character from his style name as
their surname. - Chinese: see also Dong.
- English: metonymic occupational name for a maker or user of tongs (Old English tang(e)), or a habitational name from one of the places named with this word (there are examples in Lancashire, Shropshire, and West Yorkshire), from their situation by a fork in a road or river, considered as resembling a pair of tongs.
- English: topographic name for someone who lived on a tongue of land, or a habitational name from a place named with this word (Old English tunge, Old Norse tunga), for example Tonge in Leicestershire. Alternatively, Reaney suggests that it may have been a nickname from the same word in the sense of a chatterbox or a scold.
- Dutch: from a short form of the personal name Antonius (see Anthony). It could also be from Dutch tong ‘tongue’ and hence a nickname for a chatterbox or scold, or possibly a shortening of Van Tongeren, a habitational name for someone from Tongeren in the province of Gelderland.
Dictionary of American Family Names, Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-508137-4
Learn the meaning and history of your first name
Search for tong records
More resources for your tong family history
Tong message board
Threads: 82 - Messages: 223
Start your FREE family tree. Who will you discover?
A family tree is the easiest way to start discovering your family history. To begin, just enter whatever you know and we'll use that to try and find more information for you.
Begin your family tree with your name:
The tong name in History
A unique volume of fascinating facts, statistics and commentary following the tong family name as far back in history as possible.
Member Connections
- Anonymously contact one of the Ancestry members researching the tong last name.
- Search for Ancestry members researching one of your specific ancestors.
- Create or update your own Ancestry member profile so that other members can anonymously contact you.
More Tools and Resources
- Search Ancestry.com for all of your tong ancestors.
- Create and publish your own family history book using Ancestry Press.
- Learn more about your family history using DNA Ancestry.
- Learn more about family history in the Ancestry Learning Center.
- Visit the Ancestry.com homepage.