Ke () is a Chinese surname. It originally appeared on the Hundred Family Surnames. As of 2006 was no longer one of the top 100 most common surnames. A 2013 study found that it was the 145th most common surname, shared by 1.06 million people or 0.080% of the population, with the province most being Hubei. It is also spelled as Quah, Qua, Kua, Kuah, Kwa, Ke, Ker, Ko, Koa, Kok, or O in English, owing to variations in dialect (for instance, O derives from the Cantonese pronunciation of the character) or romanisation system (compare Ke, which derives from Pinyin, with Ko, which derives from Wade-Giles.)
Origin
There are several origins of this last name:
- the descendants of Duke Ke Lu (æÂ¯ç§) of the State of Wu during the Spring and Autumn period;
- the descendants of a tribe in the Northern Wei dynasty whose surname was originally Keba (æÂ¯æÂÂ) but was simplified to Ke;
- the descendants of the Qiang tribe or the Xianbei tribe with the last name Ke.
One website lists it as originating from the town of Han in Zhejiang Province while another states it originated in Jiyang Prefecture (located in present-day Dingtao County, Shandong Province) during the Jin dynasty (266âÂÂ420).
Prominent people with the family name æÂ¯
- Cua Yi Lam, baptized as Domingo Lamco, patrilineal ancestor of Jose Rizal, Philippine national hero
- Ke Mengde, a Song dynasty poet
- Ke Jiusi (æÂ¯ä¹ÂæÂÂ), a Yuan dynasty officer
- Ke Qian, a Ming dynasty scholar
- Ke Weizhen, a Qing dynasty poet
- Blackie Ko Shou Liang (æÂ¯åÂÂè¯), modern director, actor, stuntman
- Alan Ke You Lun (æÂ¯æÂÂ綸) a Taiwanese singer and actor; son of Blackie Ko Shou Liang
- Ker Chien-ming (æÂ¯å»ºéÂÂ), Taiwanese politician
- Danny Quah Professor of economics, London School of Economics
- Kwa Geok Choo, the wife of Singapore's first prime minister, Lee Kuan Yew
- Ko Chen-tung (æÂ¯éÂÂæÂ±), a Taiwanese actor and singer
- Ko Chia-yen (æÂ¯ä½³å¬¿), a Taiwanese actress
- Ko Wen-je (æÂ¯æÂÂå²), former Mayor of Taipei and Chairman of the Taiwan People's Party
- Ke Jie (æÂ¯æ´Â), a Chinese World Go Champion
- Quah Chow Cheung (æÂ¯æÂÂçÂÂ), a Hong Kongese commissioner
- Simon Ko, Deputy Foreign Minister of the Republic of China
- Quah Kim Lye, a Singaporean footballer
- Quah Kim Song (æÂ¯éÂÂæÂ¾), a Singaporean footballer
- Quah Ting Wen (æÂ¯å©·æÂÂ), a Singaporean swimmer
- Quah Zheng Wen (æÂ¯æÂ¿æÂÂ), a Singaporean swimmer
- Quah Jing Wen (æÂ¯æÂ¾ÂÂ), a Singaporean swimmer
- Ke Qingshi (æÂ¯åºÂæÂ½), senior Chinese politician
- Quah Nian King (æÂ¯å¹´åºÂ), prominent entrepreneur in Malaysia and Singapore
Prominent people with the family name Kha
Kha is a Vietnamese variant of the family name Ke (æÂ¯)
See also
References
External links