Ma (surname 麻)
Chinese family name
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Ma (麻) is a Chinese surname.[1] According to a 2013 study, it was the 253rd most common name in China; it was shared by 330,000 people, or 0.025% of the population, being most popular in Zhejiang.[2] It is the 135th name in the Hundred Family Surnames poem.[3]
| Ma | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Chinese name | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Chinese | 麻 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Literal meaning | hemp | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Vietnamese name | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Vietnamese | Ma | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
It should not be confused with Mǎ (马/馬) ("horse"), one of the most common surnames in China.
Origins
The character 麻 denotes a plant, usually hemp, sesame or flax. The surname is traced to the Spring and Autumn Period (8th–5th centuries BC), being derived from either of:
- Ma (麻), the name of a fief located in Macheng, Hubei, which was granted to an official of the state of Chu[4]
- Ma Ying (麻婴), an official in the state of Qi[5]
Notable people
- Ma Qiu (麻秋, d. AD 350), Later Zhao and Former Qin general
- Ma Gui (麻贵, 1543–1617), Ming general
- Ma Zhenjun (麻振军, born 1962), PLAAF general
- Xiaonan Ma (麻小南, born 1962), mathematician
- Ma Jingyi (麻敬宜, born 1995), curler
- Sanggok Ma clan, a Korean clan