Ke (surname)
Ke[1] is a transliteration of a common Chinese surname, written 柯 (kē in Hanyu pinyin). It originally appeared on the Hundred Family Surnames, but as of 2006 was no longer one of the top 100 most common surnames. Also spelled as Quah, Qua, Kua, Kuah, Kwa, Ke, Ker, Ko, Kok, Or or even O in English.
Origin
There are several origins of this last name:
- the descendants of Duke Ke Lu (柯盧) of the State of Wu during the Spring and Autumn period;
- the descendants of a tribe in Northern Wei Dynasty whose surname was originally Keba (柯拔) 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[2] while another states it originated in Jiyang Prefecture (located in present-day Dingtao County, Shandong Province) during the Jin Dynasty (265–420).[3]
Prominent people with the family name 柯
- Ke Mengde, a Song Dynasty poet
- Ke Jiusi (柯九思), a Yuan Dynasty officer
- Ke Qian, a Ming Dynasty scholar
- Ke Weizhen, a Qing Dynasty poet
- Blackie Ko Shou Liang (柯受良), modern director, actor, stuntman.
- Alan Ke You Lun (柯有綸) a Taiwanese singer and actor; son of Blackie Ko Shou Liang.
- Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘), 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 (柯震東), a Taiwanese actor and singer
- Ko Wen-je (柯文哲), mayor of Taipei
- Ke Jie (柯洁), a Chinese World Go Champion
See also
References
- ^ The approximate pronunciation in English is /ˈkə/
- ^ Origin of the surname Ke, Ker, and Quah
- ^ http://groups.google.com/group/soc.culture.china/browse_thread/thread/630137624253b983/f81dbafd6b9b7fff?lnk=st&q=#f81dbafd6b9b7fff
External links
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