Ma (surname)

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Ma (simplified: 马; traditional: 馬; pinyin: mǎ) is one of the most common Chinese family names. As of 2006, it ranks as the 14th most common Chinese surname in Mainland China and the most common surname within the Chinese Muslim community. [1] However, this surname should not be identified with the Korean surname 'Ma' which shares the same pronunciation with the Chinese 'Ma' but has its own distinct history. [2]

This surname literally means "horse". The offspring of Zhao She adopted "Ma" (馬), the first word of the district Ma Fu, as their surname. Variant spellings of "Ma" include "Mah" and "Mar".

A lot of Chinese Muslims adopted Ma as the translation for their surname Muhammad. for e.g. Ma Jian, Ma Benzhai, Ma clique.

[edit] Notable individuals with the surname Ma

• Ma Chao, Chinese general during the Three Kingdoms Era (176 – 222)
• Ma Chung-ying, Chinese Hui Muslim warlord (fl. 1930s)
• Ma Hualong, Chinese-Muslim (Hui) religious and insurrection leader (d. 1871)
• Ma Huateng, Chinese entrepreneur, the founder of Tencent (b. 1971)
• Ma Jun, Chinese environmentalist
• Jack Ma, Chinese Internet entrepreneur (b. 1964)
• Ma Lik, Former Legislative Councillor and Chairman of the pro-Beijing Democratic Alliance for Betterment of Hong Kong (DAB) (1952 – 2007)
• Qingyun Ma, Architect, founder of MADA s.p.a.m. firm and Dean of University of Southern California School of Architecture (b. 1965)
• Ma Sanli, Chinese comedian (1914 – 2003)
• Ma Sicong, Chinese composer of classical music (1912 - 1987)
• Tzi Ma, Chinese-American actor (b. 1962)
• Ma Xiaochun, Chinese professional Go player (b. 1964)
• Ma Xiaonian, Physician and sexologist (b. 1945)
• Ma Ying-jeou, President of the Republic of China (Taiwan) (b. 1950)
• Ma Yuan (Han Dynasty), Chinese general of Eastern Han Dynasty (14 BC – 49)
• Ma Yuan (painter), Chinese painter of Song Dynasty (1160–1165 to 1225)
• Yo-Yo Ma, French-born American cellist (b. 1955)

[edit] See also

• List of common Chinese surnames

This page or section lists people with the surname Ma. If an internal link intending to refer to a specific person led you to this page, you may wish to change that link by adding the person's given name(s) to their surname.