Wang is China's most popular surname, with 93 million and counting

BEIJING (AP) - In a surprise turnaround, the Wangs win. A new study has debunked the notion that Li is China's most popular surname.

A 2006 survey of 296 million people in 1,100 counties and cities by the Chinese Academy of Sciences found that Li led the ranks of family names with about 7.4 per cent of the population.

However, state media reports a recent analysis of household registration data covering nearly all of China's population revealed that Wang is, in fact, the most common name in the country.

It says data shows almost 93 million mainland Chinese are called Wang, or about 7.25 per cent of the total population.

Zhang is the country's third most popular name.

© The Canadian Press, 2007