Quek is a Chinese, English, and German surname.

Origins

The

English surname English names are names used in, or originating in, England. In England as elsewhere in the English-speaking world, a complete name usually consists of a given name, commonly referred to as a first name, and a (most commonly patrilineal) family ...

Quek is an alternative spelling of

Quick Quick, as an adjective, refers to something moving with high speed. Quick may also refer to: In business * Quick (restaurant), a Belgian fast-food restaurant chain * Quick (sportswear), a Dutch manufacturer of sportswear * Quick (automobile) ...

, which originated from

Middle English Middle English (abbreviated to ME) is a form of the English language that was spoken after the Norman conquest of 1066, until the late 15th century. The English language underwent distinct variations and developments following the Old English p ...

and earlier

Old English Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain, Anglo ...

, both meaning 'lively' or 'nimble'. Quex and Quekes,

toponymic surname A toponymic surname or topographic surname is a surname derived from a place name.

s referring to Quex in

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

, are derived from ''Quek'' plus the

English possessive In English, possessive words or phrases exist for nouns and most pronouns, as well as some noun phrases. These can play the roles of determiners (also called possessive adjectives when corresponding to a pronoun) or of nouns. For nouns, noun phra ...

marker ''s''. As a

Chinese surname Chinese surnames are used by Han Chinese and Sinicized ethnic groups in China, Taiwan, Korea, Vietnam, and among overseas Chinese communities around the world such as Singapore and Malaysia. Written Chinese names begin with surnames, unlike the ...

, Quek is found in

Southeast Asia Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, south-eastern region of Asia, consistin ...

among

Overseas Chinese Overseas Chinese () refers to people of Chinese birth or ethnicity who reside outside Mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan. As of 2011, there were over 40.3 million overseas Chinese. Terminology () or ''Hoan-kheh'' () in Hokkien, refe ...

communities in Malaysia and in Singapore as an approximation of

Southern Min Southern Min (), Minnan (Mandarin pronunciation: ) or Banlam (), is a group of linguistically similar and historically related Sinitic languages that form a branch of Min Chinese spoken in Fujian (especially the Minnan region), most of Taiwan ( ...

pronunciations of the surname whose

Standard Mandarin Standard Chinese ()—in linguistics Standard Northern Mandarin or Standard Beijing Mandarin, in common speech simply Mandarin, better qualified as Standard Mandarin, Modern Standard Mandarin or Standard Mandarin Chinese—is a modern standar ...

pronunciation is spelled in

Hanyu Pinyin Hanyu Pinyin (), often shortened to just pinyin, is the official romanization system for Standard Mandarin Chinese in China, and to some extent, in Singapore and Malaysia. It is often used to teach Mandarin, normally written in Chinese for ...

as Guō (). Other Southern Min-derived spellings of the same surname include Kek, Kerk, Kuek, Kweh, and Kwek. The

German surname Personal names in German-speaking Europe consist of one or several given names (''Vorname'', plural ''Vornamen'') and a surname (''Nachname, Familienname''). The ''Vorname'' is usually gender-specific. A name is usually cited in the " Western or ...

Quek is a variant spelling of Queck, which is usually derived from

Middle High German Middle High German (MHG; german: Mittelhochdeutsch (Mhd.)) is the term for the form of German spoken in the High Middle Ages. It is conventionally dated between 1050 and 1350, developing from Old High German and into Early New High German. High ...

Middle Low German Middle Low German or Middle Saxon (autonym: ''Sassisch'', i.e. " Saxon", Standard High German: ', Modern Dutch: ') is a developmental stage of Low German. It developed from the Old Saxon language in the Middle Ages and has been documented i ...

'lively'. In some cases it may have originated as an

occupational surname In some cultures, a surname, family name, or last name is the portion of one's personal name that indicates one's family, tribe or community. Practices vary by culture. The family name may be placed at either the start of a person's full name, ...

for a farmer or a cattle dealer, from 'living animal'. Despite the similarity in spelling, based on the geographic distribution of the surname within Germany, it is generally believed to be unrelated to the placename in

Hesse Hesse (, , ) or Hessia (, ; german: Hessen ), officially the State of Hessen (german: links=no, Land Hessen), is a States of Germany, state in Germany. Its capital city is Wiesbaden, and the largest urban area is Frankfurt. Two other major histor ...

Statistics

The

2010 United States Census The United States census of 2010 was the twenty-third United States national census. National Census Day, the reference day used for the census, was April 1, 2010. The census was taken via mail-in citizen self-reporting, with enumerators servin ...

found 167 people with the surname Quek, making it the 105,6700th-most-common name in the country. This represented an increase from 127 people (124,872nd-most-common) in the 2000 Census. In both censuses, about five percent of the bearers of the surname identified as

non-Hispanic white Non-Hispanic whites or Non-Latino whites are Americans who are classified as "white", and are not of Hispanic (also known as "Latino") heritage. The United States Census Bureau defines ''white'' to include European Americans, Middle Eastern Amer ...

, and about nine-tenths as non-Hispanic Asian or Pacific Islander.

People

*Quek Kee Siong (; – after 1980), Singaporean man executed for the

murder of Cheng Geok Ha On the morning of 25 November 1977, ten-year-old schoolgirl Cheng Geok Ha (; – 25 November 1977) was last seen playing with her two friends at the carpark below her flat at Chai Chee, Singapore. According to the pair who were last with Cheng ...

Quek Leng Chan Tan Sri Quek Leng Chan (; born 8 December 1941) is a Malaysian tycoon who co-founded Hong Leong Group Malaysia. In 2018, Quek Leng Chan ranked #217 on the ''Forbes'' World's Billionaires list, with wealth listed at US$7.2 billion. As for 16 Febr ...

(; born 1941), Malaysian businessman *

Quek Swee Hwa Quek Swee Hwa (born 1941) is a Singaporean pastor and theologian. He was the founding principal of the Biblical Graduate School of Theology. He served as the General Secretary of the International Council of Christian Churches (ICCC), succeedin ...

(; born 1941), Singaporean pastor * Quek Loo Ming (; born 1945), Singaporean former laboratory officer and convicted killer * Deborah Evans-Quek (born 1961), Welsh chess player * Justin Quek (; born 1962), Singaporean chef *

Phyllis Quek Phyllis Quek (; born 23 August 1972) is a Malaysian model, actress, and singer. She was prominently a full-time Mediacorp artist from 1995 to 2001, and was ranked by local media as the 'Fourth Ah Jie' for being the fourth most prominent actre ...

(; born 1972), Malaysian model *Grace Quek (; born ), Singaporean pornographic actress who used the stage name

Annabel Chong Grace Quek (), known professionally as Annabel Chong, is a Singaporean former pornographic actress who became famous after starring in an adult film that was promoted as '' The World's Biggest Gang Bang''. The film was commercially successful a ...

Jill Quek Jill Quek (born 30 August 1978) is a Singaporean former floorball player who played as a forward for the Singapore women's national team and is now a floorball coach. She is the first Asian to be inducted to the International Floorball Federation ...

(born 1978), Singaporean footballer *

Quek See Ling Quek See Ling (; born in October 1986 in Johor Bahru, Johor, Malaysia) is a Singaporean poet, writer, Chinese ink painter, independent publisher, editor, instructor of Chinese creative writing. Education After graduating from Foon Yew Primary ...

(; born 1986), Singaporean writer *

Sam Quek Samantha Ann Quek, MBE (born 18 October 1988) is an English former field hockey player, and television personality. She played as a defender for both the England and Great Britain teams, wearing squad number 13, and won gold as part of the Briti ...

(born 1988), English field hockey player * Calvin Quek (born 1996), Singaporean sprinter

References

{{reflist English-language surnames German-language surnames Hokkien-language surnames