It is Romanized as Im in Min Nan and Yam in Cantonese.

[2] According to a 2013 study, it was the 390th most common name in China; it was shared by 39,000 people, or 0.0067% of the population, being most popular in Shanxi.

[3] It is the 283rd name in the Hundred Family Surnames poem.

[4][5] It should not be confused with the much more popular surname Yīn (殷), whose name comes from the Shang capital of Yin.

The surname Yin is claimed to derive from one of: