Origin of the surname "Shan": 1. Derived from official positions. According to "Records of the Words and Deeds of Famous Gentry and Aristocrats", there was an official position called "Shan Shi" in the Zhou Dynasty, who was in charge of mountains and forests. His descendants took "Shan" as their surname. 2. Changed from the compound surnames of ancient northern ethnic minorities. According to "The Official Family Records in the Book of Wei", during the Northern and Southern Dynasties, there was a compound surname "Tuonan" among the ethnic groups in the northern part of the Northern Wei Dynasty. After moving into the Central Plains, they changed it to the single - character surname "Shan".

The origins of the surname "Shan" are as follows: 1. It originated from the Ji surname and was derived from the name of a fief. According to "Yuanhe Xingzuan", King Cheng of Zhou enfeoffed his youngest son Zhen in the fief of Shan (southeast of present - day Mengjin County, Henan Province), making him a marquis within the royal domain. Thus, the surname was formed. For more than twenty generations including Kings Xiang, Mu, and Jing of Zhou, they served as ministers of the Zhou court. Also, according to "Tongzhi · Shizu Lue", King Cheng enfeoffed Mie in the fief of Shan, so the surname Shan came into being. 2. It was changed from the compound surnames of northern ethnic minorities. According to "Weishu · Guanshi Zhi", during the Northern and Southern Dynasties, the Northern Wei had the compound surnames Adanshi and Hedanshi from the north of the Great Wall, which were all changed to the Han surname Shan.