Hè ( IPA: )), also romanized as Ho, is a Chinese surname that is 71st in the
list of the top 100 most common Chinese family names. The Chinese character 贺 means "celebrate" or "congratulate." According to a 2013 study, He was the 86th most common surname, shared by 2,740,000 people or 0.210% of the population, with the province with the most people being
Hunan. It is the 70th name on the ''
Hundred Family Surnames'' poem.
[.]
Origin
The surname originated as a semantic variant of
Qing
The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-speaki ...
(庆), which can be traced back to Qing Feng (庆封), the great-grandson of
Duke Huan of Qi
Duke Huan of Qi (; died 643 BC), personal name Xiǎobái (小白), was the ruler of the State of Qi from 685 to 643 BC. Living during the chaotic Spring and Autumn period, as the Zhou dynasty's former vassal states fought each other for supremacy ...
. In the Eastern Han dynasty, a well-known official and descendant of the Qing family, Qing Chun (庆纯), changed his surname to He, which has the same meaning as Qing, because his surname Qing happened to be the given name of Liu Qing (刘庆), the father of the
Emperor An of Han, in order to avoid a
naming taboo[The Oxford Dictionary of Family Names in Britain and Ireland]
Another origin was a shortened form of disyllabic surnames such as He Lan (贺兰), He Lai (贺赖), He Dun (贺敦), which were from the
Xianbei ethnic group, shortened to He through cultural fusion with the Han people during Northern and Southern dynasties
Notable people
*
He Jingzhi (贺敬之, born 1924), politician and poet
*
He Bingyan
He Bingyan (; 5 February 1913 – 1 July 1960) was a general in the People's Liberation Army of the People's Republic of China from Hubei. He was known as the “one-armed General (独臂将军)” for his injuries suffered during the Lon ...
(贺炳炎; 1913 – 1960) was a general in the People's Liberation Army
*
He Mengfu
He Mengfu (; 1911 – 10 May 1945) was a Chinese film and theatre director from Wujin, Jiangsu. A 1931 graduate of the Peking University drama department, he was associated with Shanghai-based Lianhua Film Company during the 1930s, as well as many ...
(贺孟斧; (1911-1945) a Chinese film and theatre director from Wujin, Jiangsu
*
He Jiankui (贺建奎), Chinese scientist known for the Lulu and Nana gene editing controversy
*
He Zhizhang (贺知章), Tang Dynasty poet
*
He Long (贺龙), Chinese military leader and one of the Ten Marshals of the People's Republic of China
*
He Zizhen (贺子珍) third wife of Mao Zedong from May 1930 to 1937
*
He Guoqiang (贺国强) retired senior leader of the Chinese Communist Party
*
He Weifang (贺卫方), professor at Peking University
*
Mike He (賀軍翔), Taiwanese actor
*
Anna Mae He
Anna Mae He ( or He Sijia,) was born on January 28, 1999, in the United States and was the subject of a custody battle between her Chinese biological parents, Jack and Casey He, and her white foster parents, Jerry and Louise Baker. The case, revolv ...
(贺梅 born 1999), an American child who was the subject of a custody battle between her Chinese biological parents and American adopted parents
*
He Guan (贺惯; born 1993 in Tai'an) is a Chinese football player
*
He Ying (revolutionary) (贺英), originally He Mingying (born 1886), was a Chinese revolutionary. She was born in Sangzhi, Hunan province
* He Zhonghan
賀衷寒, notable Koumingtang general that also served as Ministry of Transportation in Taiwan
* He Junlin (贺峻霖), Chinese singer, member of Teens in Times
References
{{100 Most Common Family Names in Mainland China
individual Chinese surnames