Sir

I am writing to point out one misconception that may arise from your Editorial 'Asia on the rise' (Nature 447, 885; 2007). Although the most common names in China are known as 'the hundred surnames', there are many others in widespread use.

A recent survey by the Chinese Academy of Sciences found 4,100 surnames, of which 129 covered 87% of the population (Y. Yuan Chinese Nat. Geog. 2, 38–39; 2007, or see http://english.people.com.cn/200601/11/eng20060111_234647.html). This leaves nearly 200 million people using the other surnames.

The mistaken idea that only 100 surnames are used probably comes from a famous tenth-century booklet that is literally translated as A Hundred Family Names. However, in Chinese, 'a hundred' often just means a large number — in fact, the booklet itself included 504 surnames. The Grand Dictionary of Chinese Surnames (Y. Yuan and R. Du, Education and Science Press, Beijing, 1996) included 11,969 surnames, and 24,000 have been recorded in the past.

The practice of taking the mother's surname as well as the father's has often been proposed, but I doubt whether the Chinese government will take any measures to enforce it in the near future.