Romanization | Ma, Mah, Mar, Mo (Mandarin, Cantonese) Beh/Baey (Teochew) Bey (Hokkien) Ma, Mu (Korean) Archa, Be/Bae (Thai) Mã (Vietnamese) Mahmud (Indonesian) |
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Pronunciation | Mǎ (Pinyin) Má, Bé (Pe̍h-ōe-jī) |
Language(s) | Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese, Indonesian |
Origin | |
Language(s) | Old Chinese |
Derivation | Name of a district |
Meaning | "Horse" |
Ma (simplified Chinese: 马; traditional Chinese: 馬; pinyin: Mǎ) is a Chinese family name. The surname literally means "horse".[1] As of 2006, it ranks as the 14th most common Chinese surname in mainland China. In 2019 it was the 13th most common surname in mainland China.[2] A 2013 study found it to be the 13th most common, shared by 17,200,000 people or 1.290% of the population, with the province with the most being Henan. It is the 52nd name on the Hundred Family Surnames poem.[3]
From He (surname) adopted name "Ma" (馬), the first word of the district Ma Fu, as their surname. Other romanizations include Mah, Beh, Beng, Mar, Feng, Maria, May, Martin, Matthew, Almost all people surnamed Ma are his descendants. And have related connection with surname such as An (Chinese surname) and Wen (surname 文) possibly.
from the adopted name of Xi-Li Ji'en (習禮吉恩) an official in the Jin dynasty (1115–1234 AD) who changed his original name to Ma Qingxiang (馬慶祥) when he moved from Central Asia to Lintao (in present-day Gansu province).
from the adopted name of Yue Naihe (月乃和) a commander-in-chief in the late Jin dynasty who changed his original name to Ma Zu Chang (馬祖常).
Hui Muslims, Salars, Bonan and Dongxiang people commonly adopted Ma as the translation for their surname Mahmud / Muhammad. for e.g. Ma Jian, Ma Benzhai, Ma clique.[4][5][6][7]
During the Ming dynasty, the Zhengde Emperor had a Uyghur concubine with the surname Ma.[8][9]
It is not to be confused with the less common surname Má (麻), which means "hemp."[10]