The surname is often transliterated as Leung (in Hong Kong) or Leong (in Macau, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore, and the Philippines) according to its Cantonese and Hakka pronunciation, Neo / Lio / Niu (Hokkien, Teochew, Hainan), or Liong (Fuzhou).
It is also common in Korea, where it is written Yang (양) or Ryang (량).
[1] In comparison, it is the 7th most common surname in Hong Kong, where it is usually written Leung or Leong.
[2] During the reign of the Zhou dynasty King Xuan of Zhou (827–782 bc), Qin Zhong set out on an expedition to subdue the peoples to the west in Central Asia.
After Qin Zhong died, the King divided the area of Shang among them, the second son of Qin Zhong received the area around Liangshan County, from which his descendants developed the surname Liang.