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 and the most common surname within the Muslim minority community, specifically the Hui people, Dongxiang people and Salar people. 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]
Ma surname in regular script
| |
| Romanization | Ma, Mah, Mar, Mo (Mandarin, Cantonese) Beh/Baey (Teochew) Bey (Hokkien) Ma, Mu (Korean) Archa, Be/Bae (Thai) Mã (Vietnamese) Mahmud (Indonesian) |
|---|---|
| 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" |
The offspring of Zhao She adopted "Ma" (馬), the first word of the district Ma Fu, as their surname. Other romanizations include Mah, Beh and Mar. Almost all people surnamed Ma are his descendants.
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]
