Chinese surname · rank 59
范
范 is read as fàn.
Pinyin
fàn
Script forms
Simplified 范 · Traditional 範
Basic meaning
model; pattern; limit
Five element
Wood
Origin
Time: Spring and Autumn Jin fief tradition; Spring and Autumn tradition, 770-476 BCE
Place: Fan fief/place in Jin, commonly associated with today's Henan/Shanxi region
Origin note
A major Fan surname tradition traces the surname to Shi Hui, also known as Fan Wuzi, a Jin figure whose family was associated with the Fan fief. Descendants used Fan as a surname.
Historical figures
范仲淹
989-1052 CE · Northern Song statesman and writer
A major Song reform-minded official and author of Yueyang Tower prose.
范蠡
Spring and Autumn period · statesman and merchant
A Yue adviser later remembered as a model of strategic withdrawal and wealth.