Most popular surname in Jin Yong universe

[PJ]

I wonder which ONE surname is featured most prominently across Jin Yong universe?

Suppose the only way to find out is to count the number of explicitly surnamed characters of the major surnames.

Let's try to compile a list for a couple of names.

Chen - Chen Xuanfeng, Chen Jialuo, Chen Jinnan, DGSD Elder Chen.... I'm sure there are others.

Huang - Huang Yaoshi, Huang Rong, Huang Shang, Huang Rihua (...just kidding, he is a big part of wuxia though, but not quite in novel context )

Xu - Xu Tianhong, (Elder) Xu Chongxiao... others?

Wu - (Elder) Wu Changfeng, Wu Sangui...

Zhang - Zhang Cuishan, Zhang Sanfeng, Zhang Wuji, Zhang San, Zhang

Duan - Duan Zhengming, Duan Yanqing, Duan Tiande, Duan Zhixin (Yideng), Duan Yu, Duan Zhengchun

Mei - Mei Niansheng, Mei Fanggu, Mei Wenxin (Mei Fanggu's mother), Mei Chaofeng

Feel free to contribute to the list.

[HuangYushi]

Progeny (children) shouldn't be included, as surnames with more children would have their numbers inflated. E.g. the Duan of Dali should be counted as "1", instead of by its individual members.

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Based on initial collections of the Great List of JY Surnames Project, the surnames with more individual non-family-related characters than others are (in no particular order): Li 李, Zhou 周, Zhang 张 and Yang 杨.

Related threads on this forum:
1. http://www.spcnet.tv/forums/showthread.php?t=18527
2. http://www.spcnet.tv/forums/showthread.php?t=18356
3. http://www.spcnet.tv/forums/showpost...81&postcount=6

[PJ]

Ah, so it is a three-way battle between Li, Zhou, and Yang.

Yes, it's probably not fair to include relatives, but I would not apply that rule to multiple novels. Example: I would consider the Duan's in DGSD and the Duan's in LOCH to be 2 different entities. I see the DGSD Duan's as a new set of characters that Jin Yong wanted to create, even though they're ultimately the same family.