A surname from the ancient state of Zhong, associated with the great calligrapher Zhong Yao.
Why it scores this way
Easy to say72
Mostly easy. The only friction is zh, which English speakers usually turn into something close.
Recognised in China73
Common enough that most Chinese speakers recognise it (roughly the top 100).
Easy to write75
9 strokes — a little practice and it flows.
People who carried this name
Zhong Yao — Three Kingdoms calligrapher (151–230), founder of regular script.
Zhong Ziqi — Ancient Chinese musician renowned for his profound understanding of music, immortalized in the 'High Mountain and Flowing Water' story with Bo Ya.
Zhong Rong — Southern Dynasties literary critic, author of 'Shipin' (The Critique of Poetry), a pioneering work ranking poets by style and merit.