Tang

Chinese 唐: from the name of the region of Tang, in present-day Shanxi province. The legendary emperor Huang Di (2697–2595 BC) granted this region to his son Dan Zhu, whose descendants eventually adopted it as their surname. They held power in the region until they were conquered by Cheng Wang, second king (1115–1079 BC) of the Zhou dynasty. Cheng Wang granted the region to his brother Shu Yu, whose descendants also adopted the place name Tang as a surname. This character is also that used for the Tang dynasty (618–907).

Chinese 汤: from the given name of Cheng Tang, Prince of Shang, a model of virtue and humanity, who overthrew the corrupt last king of the Xia Dynasty and became first emperor of the Shang Dynasty, in 1766 BC. Some of his descendants adopted Tang as their surname.

Chinese 滕: Cantonese variant of Teng. 1.

Vietnamese: unexplained.

Korean: only one Chinese character is used in Korean for the surname Tang, and the Miryang is the only Tang clan. Its founding ancestor, Tang Sǒng, migrated from Yüan China some time during the latter part of the 14th century. This is a comparatively rare surname in Korea.