Yuan Family History
Yuan Name Meaning
Chinese:: Mandarin form of the surname 袁 meaning ‘(of dress) long’ in ancient Chinese: from the personal name of Bo Yuan (伯爰) style name of Zhu who was a descendant of Hu Gong Man (Duke Hu of Chen head of the state of Chen). In ancient Chinese the characters 爰 轅 and 袁 were used interchangeably. Descendants of Bo Yuan adopted 袁 (Yuan) as their surname. Mandarin form of the surname 元 meaning ‘head’ or ‘beginning’ in ancient Chinese: (i) from the personal name of Yuan Xian (元銑) an official in the Shang dynasty (1600–1046
Source: Dictionary of American Family Names 2nd edition, 2022