Know your Name!

Hey everyone~

Wow I was surfing the net when I suddenly decided to check my own surname. It's kinda interesting, getting to know your own surname. If you didn't know, my Chinese name is 夏信哲. And from what I know, it's not very common. XD. The only person I know who has the same surname as myself besides my relatives is Madam Ha. LolXD. Some people even say we're related, like -_-"".

Here's my surname's history! (simplified)

Origin of Xia*, Hsia*, Ha*(夏):

-The 55th most popular last name in China.
-It is the first last name that is directly related to a dynasty. The Xia Dynasty lasted for more than 400 years and was brought to an end by the Shang Dynasty in 1,783 B.C. After this, the people of Xia, made Xia their last name. (Xia means summer).

Here is also the history of some surnames which some of you might have :D (All are simplified) :

Origin of Fan*, Fang* (范):

-The 61st most common last name in China.
-Descendents of Tang Yao and Liu Lei.

Origin of Huang*, Wong*, Huynh*, Hwang*, Oei*, Ooi*(黄):

-The 8th most common last name in China.
-The Huangs and Zhaos have the same forefather, Shao Hao (2,597-2513 B.C.).
-The Huang Kingdom was recognized by the Zhou Dynasty, but was eliminated in 648 B.C., by Chu, and the descendents began to bear the last name of Huang. (Huang means yellow in Chinese).

Origin of Wu*, Ng*, Ang*, Eng*, Ing*(吴):

-The 10th most common Chinese last name.
-Wus last name came from one of the following sources:
1) descendents of Wu Quan, an official of Zhuan Xu (2,513 2435 B.C.),
2) descendents of Yu Shun (2,255 2,205 B.C.),
3) descendents of the famous archer of Xia Shao Kang (2,079-2,057 B.C.)
4) descendents of the kings of the Wu Kingdom established by Tai Bo and Zhong Yong. The fourth source is the biggest one.

Origin of Shen*, Sun*, Sung* (沈):

-The 37th most common last name in China.
-There are three main origins.
1) Descendents of Shao Hao. The grandson of Shao Hao was the kings teacher, and he had two sons, Yun Ge and Tai Dai.
2) The youngest brother of Zhou Wu Wang, Ran Ji, was awarded the kingdom of Shen, for his achievement of suppressing the rebellion following his brothers death. His descendents also have the last name Shen.
3) Yet another origin came from the last name Mi. During Chun Qiu, The great grandson of Chu Jon Wang, Shu, was the governor of the town of Shen, and was known as Shen Yi Shu.

Origin of Li*, Lee*, Yi* (Korean), Ly* (Vietnamese) (李):

-The 2nd most common last name in China.
-The origin of the Li last name was quite complicated, having to do with the official title and tree name.
-During the Tang Dynasty, many people (including Xu, Bing, Dong, An, Ge, Du, Wu, Ma, Zhang, and Hong) were give the name of Li for their contributions in establishing the Tang Dynasty, and Li became a big family.

Origin of Cai*, Tsai*, Choi*, Choy*, Chua*, Chye*(蔡):

-The 44th most common last name in China.
-They are the descendents of the 5th son of Zhou Wu Wang, Shu Du.

Sooo as you can see, my surname is quite uncommon. XD That is sooo cool.

Be proud of your own surname! XD

That's all for now, I'll blog about happenings or events sometime else.

Bye~