Romanization | Ma, Mah, Mar, Mo (Mandarin, Cantonese) |
---|---|
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, and Mar.
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]