Double-barreled names in China

Years ago there was a joke about ringing the wrong number in China.

China mulls double-barreled surnames for children; too many share same names

BEIJING (AP) - China, where 85 per cent of its 1.3 billion population share just 100 surnames, may soon allow children to take a combination of their parents' family names to avoid confusion, state media reported Tuesday.

Under a proposal distributed to police departments around the country by the Ministry of Public Security, parents called Zhou and Zhu would have four options when naming their newborn, the China Daily reported. Their child's surname could be Zhou, Zhu, Zhouzhu or Zhuzhou.

The newspaper said the reason for the proposal was because the limited number of surnames meant a confusing number of people end up with the same name.

In April, a survey reported by Xinhua News Agency said that Wang was the most common surname in China, with about 93 million people sharing the name. That was followed by Li with about 92 million and Zhang with about 87 million.