Chia (surname)

Chia is a surname. It is a Latin-alphabet spelling of various Chinese surnames, as well as an Italian surname.

Statistics

Chia was the 20th-most common Chinese surname in Singapore as of 1997 (ranked by English spelling, rather than by Chinese characters). Roughly 22,600 people, or 0.9% of the Chinese Singaporean population at the time, bore the surname Chia. Among respondents to the 2000 United States census, Chia was the 856th-most common surname among Asian Pacific Americans, and 17,530th-most common overall, with 1,481 bearers (72.78% of whom identified as Asian/Pacific Islander). In Italy, 72 families bore the surname Chia, with more than half located in Sardinia.

Origins

Chia may be a spelling of a number of Chinese surnames, based on different varieties of Chinese, listed below by their romanisation in Mandarin pinyin:

• Jia (various characters and tones), all spelled Chia in the Wade–Giles romanisation of Mandarin used before the development of pinyin, and still widespread in Taiwan.
• Jiā (; IPA: /t͡ɕia⁵⁵/)
• Jiá (; IPA: /t͡ɕia³⁵/), which originated as a toponymic surname.
• Jiǎ (; IPA: /t͡ɕia²¹⁴/), which also originated as a toponymic surname referring to the , one of the ancient Chinese states, a feudal territory granted to a son of Shu Yu of Tang, located in modern-day Linfen, Shanxi.
• Jiǎ (; IPA: /t͡ɕia²¹⁴/), which originated as a shortening of an ancient toponymic surname Jiǎfù ().
• Xiè (), spelled Chia based on its pronunciation in various Southern Min dialects, including:
• Hokkien (Pe̍h-ōe-jÄ«: Chiā; IPA: /t͡ɕia³³/)
• Teochew (Peng'im: Zia⁷; IPA: /tÍ¡sia¹¹/)
• Chē (), spelled Chia based on its pronunciation in various Southern Min dialects, including:
• Hokkien (POJ: Chhia, IPA: /t͡ɕʰia⁴⁴/)
• Teochew (Peng'im: Cia¹; IPA: /tÍ¡sÊ°ia³³/)

It is also an Italian toponymic surname referring to Chia, Province of South Sardinia. That toponym may have originated from a Phoenician word for "valley".

Chinese surname è°¢

• Chia Boon Leong (; 1925–2022), Singaporean footballer
• Eric Chia (; 1930s–2008), Malaysian businessman
• Nicholas Chia (; 1938–2024), third Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore
• Chia Thye Poh (; born 1941), Singaporean political activist imprisoned for 23 years without charge or trial
• Mantak Chia (; born 1944), Thai Taoist master
• Yvonne Chia (; born ), Malaysian banker
• Chia Yong Yong (; born 1962), Singaporean lawyer and politician
• Steve Chia (; born 1970), Singaporean politician
• Danny Chia (; born 1972), Malaysian golfer
• Michelle Chia (; born 1975), Singaporean actress
• Elvin Chia (; born 1977), Malaysian swimmer
• Amber Chia (; born 1981), Malaysian model and actress
• Wen Shin Chia (; born ), Malaysian environmentalist
• Kimberly Chia (; born 1995), Singaporean actress
• Aaron Chia (; born 1997), Malaysian badminton player
• Nelson Chia (), Singaporean television actor and director

Chinese surname 賈

• Chia Ching-teh (; 1880–1960), Republic of China politician
• Chia Lien-chen (; 1912–?), Chinese middle-distance runner
• Pei-yuan Chia (; born 1939), Hong Kong-born American banker
• Alyssa Chia (; born 1974), Taiwanese actress
• Chih-Ta Chia (), Taiwanese physicist
• Wenlan Chia (), Taipei-born American fashion designer

Other or unknown

People with a non-Chinese surname Chia, or whose names as written in Chinese characters are not available:

• Chia Chungchang (), Chinese basketball player
• Víctor Li-Carrillo Chía (1929–1988), Peruvian philosopher
• Cheng Sait Chia (1940–1981), Singaporean-born Canadian poet
• Sandro Chia (born 1946), Italian painter and sculptor
• Beatrice Chia (born 1974), Singaporean actress
• Gec Chia (born 1979), Filipino businessman and former basketball player
• Daphne Chia (born 1996), Singaporean gymnast
• Luis Carlos Chía (born 1997), Colombian cyclist
• Grace Chia, Singaporean writer

See also

• Chica (name)
• Chika (general name)

References