In 2008, the surname "严 (嚴)", pinyin Yán, or Yim in Cantonese was estimated to be the 92nd most common surname in the People's Republic of China, shared by around 2.2 million citizens.
In the state of Chu, the branch of Xiong (熊) of the Zhuang surname (莊) was renamed to Yan (嚴).
[2] In the state of Qin, many families with the surname Ying (嬴) were renamed Yan (嚴).
During the Sixteen Kingdoms, the royal family of Xianbei were given the surname Yan (嚴).
Some ethnic minority groups in China, including the Xibe people, Yi people and Tu people, also use the surname Yan (嚴) People with the surname Zhuang (莊) changed it to 嚴 (both meaning ‘solemnity’) during the reign of Emperor Ming of Han, who person name was Liu Zhuang (劉莊), due to a naming taboo as the surname 莊 happened to be the given name of the emperor.