New covid variants have, so far, been given names according to letters of the Greek alphabet (doubtless they will soon run out, so we'll see what they settle on next, since the moral panic over covid will assuredly not be over by then).
2 Greek letters have, however, been skipped in the latest batch of named variants - Nu and Xi.
The WHO claims that Xi has been passed over "because it is a common last name".
Those who are familiar with Chinese last names (and their pronunciation in Mandarin - for simplicity I will just call them "Chinese" last names) will find this claim suspect, since Xi is assuredly not a common Chinese last name (let alone a common last name). Furthermore, Mu (a currently designated variant of interest), is also a Chinese last name, but that didn't stop its use to designate a covid variant.
Extensive lists of Chinese surnames are not available in English, but it is noteworthy that Xi is not on 3 lists of the 100 most common Chinese surnames I found online. These lists also don't provide their sources.
Fortunately, a more extensive (and sourced) list of Chinese surnames is available.
<< 中国四百大姓 >> ("The 400 Most Common Surnames in China") by 袁义达 and 邱家儒 (Yuan Yida and Qiu Jiaru) provides us what its title suggests. Baidu Baike lists the 400 (in descending order of frequency)
I have provided the transliteration of each (sans diacritics). Note that some names are pronounced the same way (even down to the tone) but have different Chinese characters and so are different surnames, e.g. 39.于 (Yu) and 40.余 (Yu)
The tl;dr is that Mu shows up at 188 (穆), 344 (母) and 361 (慕). Meanwhile, Xi shows up at 213 (席) and 278 (奚) - note that both are different from Xi Dada's surname of 习 (also pronounced Xi).
So if you're going to skip the "Xi" variant in the name of not using a "common last name", the case for skipping the "Mu" is at least as strong (if not stronger).
Clearly, the WHO's true motivation for not naming the "Xi" variant is not the one they give. Either that or they are speaking out of ignorance.
What do you think is the more likely explanation?
List of the 400 most common surnames in China:
1.王 (Wang)
2.李 (Li)
3.张 (Zhang)
4.刘 (Liu)
5.陈 (Chen)
6.杨 (Yang)
7.黄 (Huang)
8.吴 (Wu)
9.赵 (Zhao)
10.周 (Zhou)
11.徐 (Xu)
12.孙 (Sun)
13.马 (Ma)
14.朱 (Zhu)
15.胡 (Hu)
16.林 (Lin)
17.郭 (Guo)
18.何 (He)
19.高 (Gao)
20.罗 (Luo)
21.郑 (Zheng)
22.梁 (Liang)
23.谢 (Xie)
24.宋 (Song)
25.唐 (Tang)
26.许 (Xu)
27.邓 (Deng)
28.冯 (Feng)
29.韩 (Han)
30.曹 (Cao)
31.曾 (Zeng)
32.彭 (Peng)
33.萧 (Xiao)
34.蔡 (Cai)
35.潘 (Pan)
36.田 (Tian)
37.董 (Dong)
38.袁 (Yuan)
39.于 (Yu)
40.余 (Yu)
41.叶 (Ye)
42.蒋 (Jiang)
43.杜 (Du)
44.苏 (Su)
45.魏 (Wei)
46.程 (Cheng)
47.吕 (Lu)
48.丁 (Ding)
49.沈 (Shen)
50.任 (Ren)
51.姚 (Yao)
52.卢 (Lu)
53.傅 (Fu)
54.钟 (Zhong)
55.姜 (Jiang)
56.崔 (Cui)
57.谭 (Tan)
58.廖 (Liao)
59.范 (Fan)
60.汪 (Wang)
61.陆 (Lu)
62.金 (Jin)
63.石 (Shi)
64.戴 (Dai)
65.贾 (Jia)
66.韦 (Wei)
67.夏 (Xia)
68.邱 (Qiu)
69.方 (Fang)
70.侯 (Hou)
71.邹 (Zou)
72.熊 (Xiong)
73.孟 (Meng)
74.秦 (Qin)
75.白 (Bai)
76.江 (Jiang)
77.阎 (Yan)
78.薛 (Xue)
79.尹 (Yin)
80.段 (Duan)
81.雷 (Lei)
82.黎 (Li)
83.史 (Shi)
84.龙 (Long)
85.陶 (Tao)
86.贺 (He)
87.顾 (Gu)
88.毛 (Mao)
89.郝 (Hao)
90.龚 (Gong)
91.邵 (Shao)
92.万 (Wan)
93.钱 (Qian)
94.严 (Yan)
95.赖 (Lai)
96.覃 (Tan)
97.洪 (Hong)
98.武 (Wu)
99.莫 (Mo)
100.孔 (Kong)
101.汤 (Tang)
102.向 (Xiang)
103.常 (Chang)
104.温 (Wen)
105.康 (Kang)
106.施 (Shi)
107.文 (Wen)
108.牛 (Niu)
109.樊 (Fan)
110.葛 (Ge)
111.邢 (Xing)
112.安 (An)
113.齐 (Qi)
114.易 (Yi)
115.乔 (Qiao)
116.伍 (Wu)
117.庞 (Pang)
118.颜 (Yan)
119.倪 (Ni)
120.庄 (Zhuang)
121.聂 (Nie)
122.章 (Zhang)
123.鲁 (Lu)
124.岳 (Yue)
125.翟 (Di)
126.殷 (Yin)
127.詹 (Zhan)
128.申 (Shen)
129.欧 (Ou)
130.耿 (Geng)
131.关 (Guan)
132.兰 (Lan)
133.焦 (Jiao)
134.俞 (Yu)
135.左 (Zuo)
136.柳 (Liu)
137.甘 (Gan)
138.祝 (Zhu)
139.包 (Bao)
140.宁 (Ning)
141.尚 (Shang)
142.符 (Fu)
143.舒 (Shu)
144.阮 (Ruan)
145.柯 (Ke)
146.纪 (Ji)
147.梅 (Mei)
148.童 (Tong)
149.凌 (Ling)
150.毕 (Bi)
151.单 (Dan)
152.季 (Ji)
153.裴 (Pei)
154.霍 (Huo)
155.涂 (Tu)
156.成 (Cheng)
157.苗 (Miao)
158.谷 (Gu)
159.盛 (Sheng)
160.曲 (Qu)
161.翁 (Weng)
162.冉 (Ran)
163.骆 (Luo)
164.蓝 (Lan)
165.路 (Lu)
166.游 (You)
167.辛 (Xin)
168.靳 (Jin)
169.欧阳 (Ouyang)
170.管 (Guan)
171.柴 (Chai)
172.蒙 (Meng)
173.鲍 (Bao)
174.华 (Hua)
175.喻 (Yu)
176.祁 (Qi)
177.蒲 (Pu)
178.房 (Fang)
179.滕 (Teng)
180.屈 (Qu)
181.饶 (Rao)
182.解 (Jie)
183.牟 (Mou)
184.艾 (Ai)
185.尤 (You)
186.阳 (Yang)
187.时 (Shi)
188.穆 (Mu)
189.农 (Nong)
190.司 (Si)
191.卓 (Zhuo)
192.古 (Gu)
193.吉 (Ji)
194.缪 (Mou)
195.简 (Jian)
196.车 (Che)
197.项 (Xiang)
198.连 (Lian)
199.芦 (Lu)
200.麦 (Mai)
201.褚 (Chu)
202.娄 (Lou)
203.窦 (Dou)
204.戚 (Qi)
205.岑 (Cen)
206.景 (Jing)
207.党 (Dang)
208.宫 (Gong)
209.费 (Fei)
210.卜 (Bo)
211.冷 (Leng)
212.晏 (Yan)
213.席 (Xi)
214.卫 (Wei)
215.米 (Mi)
216.柏 (Bai)
217.宗 (Zong)
218.瞿 (Qu)
219.桂 (Gui)
220.全 (Quan)
221.佟 (Tong)
222.应 (Ying)
223.臧 (Zang)
224.闵 (Min)
225.苟 (Gou)
226.邬 (Wu)
227.边 (Bian)
228.卞 (Bian)
229.姬 (Ji)
230.师 (Shi)
231.和 (He)
232.仇 (Chou)
233.栾 (Luan)
234.隋 (Sui)
235.商 (Shang)
236.刁 (Diao)
237.沙 (Sha)
238.荣 (Rong)
239.巫 (Wu)
240.寇 (Kou)
241.桑 (Sang)
242.郎 (Lang)
243.甄 (Zhen)
244.丛 (Cong)
245.仲 (Zhong)
246.虞 (Yu)
247.敖 (Ao)
248.巩 (Gong)
249.明 (Ming)
250.佘 (She)
251.池 (Chi)
252.查 (Cha)
253.麻 (Ma)
254.苑 (Yuan)
255.迟 (Chi)
256.邝 (Kuang)
257.官 (Guan)
258.封 (Feng)
259.谈 (Tan)
260.匡 (Kuang)
261.鞠 (Ju)
262.惠 (Gui)
263.荆 (Jing)
264.乐 (Le)
265.冀 (Ji)
266.郁 (Yu)
267.胥 (Xu)
268.南 (Nan)
269.班 (Ban)
270.储 (Chu)
271.原 (Yuan)
272.栗 (Li)
273.燕 (Yan)
274.楚 (Chu)
275.鄢 (Yan)
276.劳 (Lao)
277.谌 (Chen)
278.奚 (Xi)
279.皮 (Pi)
280.粟 (Su)
281.冼 (Xian)
282.蔺 (Lin)
283.楼 (Lou)
284.盘 (Pan)
285.满 (Man)
286.闻 (Wen)
287.位 (Wei)
288.厉 (Li)
289.伊 (Yi)
290.仝 (Tong)
291.区 (Qu)
292.郜 (Gao)
293.海 (Hai)
294.阚 (Han)
295.花 (Hua)
296.权 (Quan)
297.强 (Qiang)
298.帅 (Shuai)
299.屠 (Tu)
300.豆 (Dou)
301.朴 (Pu)
302.盖 (Gai)
303.练 (Lian)
304.廉 (Lian)
305.禹 (Yu)
306.井 (Jing)
307.祖 (Zu)
308.漆 (Qi)
309.巴 (Ba)
310.丰 (Feng)
311.支 (Zhi)
312.卿 (Qing)
313.国 (Guo)
314.狄 (Di)
315.平 (Ping)
316.计 (Ji)
317.索 (Suo)
318.宣 (Xuan)
319.晋 (Jin)
320.相 (Xiang)
321.初 (Chu)
322.门 (Men)
323.云 (Yun)
324.容 (Rong)
325.敬 (Jing)
326.来 (Lai)
327.扈 (Hu)
328.晁 (Chao)
329.芮 (Rui)
330.都 (Dou)
331.普 (Pu)
332.阙 (Que)
333.浦 (Pu)
334.戈 (Ge)
335.伏 (Fu)
336.鹿 (Lu)
337.薄 (Bao)
338.邸 (Di)
339.雍 (Yong)
340.辜 (Gu)
341.羊 (Yang)
342.阿 (A)
343.乌 (Wu)
344.母 (Mu)
345.裘 (Qiu)
346.亓 (Qi)
347.修 (Xiu)
348.邰 (Tai)
349.赫 (He)
350.杭 (Hang)
351.况 (Kuang)
352.那 (Na)
353.宿 (Su)
354.鲜 (Xian)
355.印 (Yin)
356.逯 (Lu)
357.隆 (Long)
358.茹 (Ru)
359.诸 (Zhu)
360.战 (Zhan)
361.慕 (Mu)
362.危 (Wei)
363.玉 (Yu)
364.银 (Yin)
365.亢 (Kang)
366.嵇 (Ji)
367.公 (Gong)
368.哈 (Ha)
369.湛 (Zhan)
370.宾 (Bin)
371.戎 (Rong)
372.勾 (Gou)
373.茅 (Mao)
374.利 (Li)
375.於 (Yu)
376.呼 (Hu)
377.居 (Ju)
378.揭 (Jie)
379.干 (Gan)
380.但 (Dan)
381.尉 (Wei)
382.冶 (Ye)
383.斯 (Si)
384.元 (Yuan)
385.束 (Shu)
386.檀 (Tan)
387.衣 (Yi)
388.信 (Xin)
389.展 (Zhan)
390.阴 (Yin)
391.昝 (Zan)
392.智 (Zhi)
393.幸 (Xing)
394.奉 (Feng)
395.植 (Zhi)
396.衡 (Heng)
397.富 (Fu)
398.尧 (Yao)
399.闭 (Bi)
400.由 (You)
As a side note, it is interesting that 钱 (Qian - money) is only 93. I thought it would be higher given how obsessed with money the Chinese are
