Shěn

Shěn is the Mandarin Hanyu pinyin romanization of the Chinese surname.

Shen is the 14th surname in the Song-era Hundred Family Surnames.

Romanisation
沈 is romanised as Sum, Sem, Sam, or Shum in Cantonese; Sim in Hokkien; Shim in Hakka; Shim, (심) in Korean; and Thẩm/Trầm in Vietnamese.

Less commonly, the same character can also be pronounced Zhen, which indicates a different origin from Shen.

Distribution
Shen was the 52nd-most-common surname in the People's Republic of China (China) in 2020 according to the Ministry of Public Security and ranked 40th in the 100 most common surnames in the Republic of China (Taiwan) in 2018 by the Ministry of the Interior. In the Republic of Korea 沈/심 ranked 32nd amongst the top 100 South Korean surnames in 2015. (According to China's 2013 Fuxi Cultural Research (中華伏羲文化研究會), there are approximately 5.5 million 沈's accounting for 0.41% of the Han Chinese population and placed 49th out of the 400 Chinese surnames in Mainland China. The highest concentration of 沈 is in the Eastern Chinese coastal provinces of Jiangsu and Zhejiang which represents about 36% of all 沈's in China. A remaining 37% of all 沈's in China inhabit these 7 neighbouring provinces & cities of Shanghai, Anhui, Henan, Guangdong, Hubei, Guizhou and Shandong. As of the top 30 cities in China, top ranking last names rank 沈 as 6th most common in Hangzhou during 2011 and 8th most common in Shanghai during 2018. In 2015, South Korea’s population of 沈 is less than 1% of the country’s population or 272,049 people. In 2009, Singapore’s population of 沈 accounted for 0.9% of the city’s population  or 23,800 people. In 2006, Hangzhou's population of 沈 was 3.09% of the city's population or 202,358 people.

Although Chinese make up the largest part of America's Asian and Pacific Islander population, none of the romanizations of "沈" appeared among the 1000 most common surnames during the AD 2000 US census although "shen" ranked #3690, "shum" ranked #13,730, "shim" ranked #7576, "tham" ranked #21,829. In the 1990 US census however, "shen" ranked #10,565, "shum" ranked #22,632, "shim" ranked #9771, "tham" ranked #28,237.

Origins
As is common with Chinese surnames, the modern Shen family arose from various unrelated sources.

One origin traces it to the Shen (沈) kingdom in Runan County, Henan. These people were descended from Shao Hao, whose grandson was Zhuanxu's teacher and fathered Yun Ge and Tai Dai. Tai Dai was granted Shanxi for his achievements in controlling the flooding of the Yellow River and his descendants divided into four "kingdoms": the Shen, the Yi, the Ru, and the Huang. Electing not to participate in the northern kingdoms' campaign against Chu in 506 BC, Shen was invaded and destroyed by Cai. The rulers and vassals of the former state then bore the clan name Shen to distinguish themselves.

Another group descended from the rulers and vassals of the revived state of Shen after King Cheng granted it to the Zhou prince Ran Ji for suppressing the rebellion following the death of his brother King Wu.

A third group derived from the Mi family of Chu during the Spring and Autumn period. Chu had conquered the area of Shen and, in 506 BC, its governor was Shenyin Shu – a Chu field marshal from a cadet branch of the royal house. He was killed in the Battle of Boju that year, opposing a Wu invasion led by Wu Zixu and Sun Tzu. In his memory, some of his descendants and vassals adopted the clan name Shen for his fief, while others became the Ye after the fief granted to Shenyin Shu's son Shen Zhuliang, better known as the Duke of Ye (葉公, Ye Gong).

Branches
The You clan is said to be a branch of the Shen clan, having simply removed the side-water radical 氵 from their surname sometime in the 10th century due to conflict with a different Shen  ruling family in Fujian Province. Owing to this, the You and Shen continued to be unable to intermarry, just as if they were still a single clan.

The side-water radical (: shuǐ) plus (: yín) results in the Chinese character surname (: shěn).

Historical figures

 * Shen Kuo (沈括), ancient polymathic scientist
 * Shen Yue (沈約), poet, statesman, and historian
 * Shen Zhou (沈周), Chinese painter in the Ming dynasty
 * Shen Faxing (沈法興), official of the Chinese Sui dynasty
 * Shen Lun (沈倫), scholar-official
 * Shen Wansan (沈万三), businessman during the beginning of Ming dynasty
 * Michael Shen Fu-Tsung (沈福宗), First Qing Chinese to have visited Europe
 * Shen Wuhua (沈婺華), empress of Chen China
 * Shen Miaorong (沈妙容), empress of the Chinese Chen dynasty
 * Shen Quan (沈铨), Chinese painter during the Qing dynasty
 * Shen Guangwen (沈光文), scholar, poet, educator
 * Shen Baozhen (沈葆禎), Chinese official during the Qing dynasty
 * Shen Song (沈崧), chancellor of the Chinese Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period state Wuyue
 * Shen Shou (沈壽), Chinese embroiderer during the late Qing and early Republican period
 * Shen Zemin (沈泽民), one of the earliest members of the Chinese Communist Party
 * James Shen (沈劍虹), Taiwanese diplomat
 * Shen Hongying (沈鸿英), Chinese general & military governor of Guangdong
 * Shen Jinjian (沈金鑑), politician of the Republic of China

China

 * Chung-Chang Shen (沈仲章), Chinese linguist, folklorist, ethnomusicologist, and antiquarian
 * Shen Congwen (沈从文), one of the greatest modern Chinese writers
 * Shen Dingcheng (沈定成), a Chinese businessman and oil and gas executive
 * Shen Dingyi (沈定一), a 1920s-era Chinese revolutionary and intellectual
 * Shen Duo (沈铎), a Chinese competitive swimmer
 * Shen Fu (director) (沈浮), Chinese film director
 * Shen Hongfei (沈宏非), a writer, producer and food columnist in China
 * Shen Jinlong (沈金龙), current commander of the Chinese People's Liberation Army Navy.
 * Shen Jingsi (沈静思), a Chinese volleyball player.
 * Shen Jun (businessman) (沈军), a Chinese billionaire businessman, founder of East Money Information
 * Shen Junru (沈钧儒), a Chinese lawyer, political figure
 * Shen Longyuan (沈龙元), a Chinese football player
 * Shen Peiping (沈培平), a former Chinese politician from Yunnan province
 * Shen Shaomin (沈少民), an artist based in Sydney, and Beijing
 * Shen Sinyan (沈星扬), an American physicist and classical composer
 * Shen Shixi (沈石溪), a bestselling children's author
 * Shen Teng (沈腾), a Chinese comedian and actor
 * Shen Tianfeng (沈田峰), a Chinese football player
 * Shen Tianhui (沈天慧), renowned chemist and professor at Shanghai Jiao Tong University
 * Shen Tong (沈彤), a Chinese American social activist, impact investor, writer
 * Shen Wei (沈伟), Chinese-born American choreographer, visual artist, and director
 * Shen Xiaoming (沈晓明), a Chinese politician, serving since 2017 as the Governor of Hainan
 * Shen Yanfei (沈燕飞), a Chinese-born table tennis player
 * Shen Yongping (沈勇平), a Chinese filmmaker
 * Shen Yue (沈月), a Chinese actress
 * Shen Yueyue (沈跃跃), a Chinese politician
 * Shen Zhihua (沈志华), a professor of history at East China Normal University
 * Shen Zulun (沈祖伦), a politician of the People's Republic of China

Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macau, Malaysia & Singapore

 * Shen Chang-huan (沈昌煥), Minister of Foreign Affairs (Taiwan)
 * Shen Che-Tsai (沈哲哉), a Taiwanese painter
 * Shen Chun-shan (沈君山), Taiwanese academic
 * Shen Jong-chin (沈榮津), Minister of Economic Affairs (Taiwan)
 * Shen Lyu-shun (沈呂巡), a Taiwanese diplomat
 * Shen Weijun (沈炜竣), a Singaporean actor and singer
 * Shen Yi-ming (沈一鳴), Deputy Minister of National Defense (Taiwan)
 * Stephen Shen (沈世宏), Minister of Environmental Protection Administration of the Republic of China
 * Jess Sum (沈卓盈), an actress in Hong Kong under TVB
 * Lydia Shum (沈殿霞), a Hong Kong comedian, MC, and actress
 * Mina Shum (沈小艾), independent Canadian filmmaker
 * Harry Shum (沈向洋), Executive Vice President of Artificial Intelligence & Research at Microsoft
 * Sim Tong Him (沈同钦), a Malaysian politician.
 * Sim Wong Hoo (沈望傅), CEO and Chairman of Creative Technology
 * Ron Sim (沈財福), founder of OSIM International
 * Jack Sim (沈銳華), founder of Restroom Association of Singapore, the World Toilet Organization
 * Sim Ann (沈颖), Singapore Senior Minister of State
 * Desmond Sim (沈？？), Singaporean playwright
 * Edmund Sim, Chinese-American international trade attorney of Malaysian descent
 * Jasmine Sim (沈家玉), Singaporean actress
 * Sheila Sim (Singaporean actress) (沈琳宸)
 * Ken Sim (沈觀健), Vancouver Mayor