Wee is a surname.

Origins

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 ...

, Wee is an English-language spelling of the pronunciations in different

varieties of Chinese Chinese, also known as Sinitic, is a branch of the Sino-Tibetan language family consisting of hundreds of local varieties, many of which are not mutually intelligible. Variation is particularly strong in the more mountainous southeast of main ...

of multiple surnames. Those surnames are listed below by their romanisation 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 ...

, which reflects the

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: * Huáng (), spelled Wee based on the vernacular reading of

Zhangzhou dialect The Zhangzhou dialects (), also rendered Changchew, Chiangchew or Changchow, are a collection of Hokkien dialects spoken in southern Fujian province (in southeast China), centered on the city of Zhangzhou. The Zhangzhou dialect proper is the sourc ...

Hokkien The Hokkien () variety of Chinese is a Southern Min language native to and originating from the Minnan region, where it is widely spoken in the south-eastern part of Fujian in southeastern mainland China. It is one of the national languages in ...

pronunciation (). Other English spellings of the Hokkien pronunciation of this surname include Oei, Ooi, and Uy. The spelling Wee is common particularly in

Melaka Malacca ( ms, Melaka) is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state in Malaysia located in the southern region of the Malay Peninsula, next to the Strait of Malacca. Its capital is Malacca City, dubbed the Historic City, which has bee ...

; in contrast, the spelling Ooi is more common in

Penang Penang ( ms, Pulau Pinang, is a Malaysian state located on the northwest coast of Peninsular Malaysia, by the Malacca Strait. It has two parts: Penang Island, where the capital city, George Town, is located, and Seberang Perai on the Malay ...

. * Wèi () Wee is also a

Norwegian surname This is a list of the most common surnames in Europe, sorted by country. Albania At the moment, listings for the most common names are unavailable for Albania. However the most common names include the following: * Common names denoting ...

Statistics

Statistics compiled by

Patrick Hanks Patrick Hanks (born 24 March 1940) is an English lexicographer, corpus linguist, and onomastician. He has edited dictionaries of general language, as well as dictionaries of personal names. Background Hanks was educated at Ardingly College, ...

on the basis of the

2011 United Kingdom census A census of the population of the United Kingdom is taken every ten years. The 2011 census was held in all countries of the UK on 27 March 2011. It was the first UK census which could be completed online via the Internet. The Office for National ...

and the

Census of Ireland 2011 The 2011 census of Ireland was held on Sunday, 10 April 2011. It was administered by the Central Statistics Office of Ireland and found the population to be 4,588,252 people.

found 150 people on the island of

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...

and eight on the island of

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

with the surname Wee. In the

1881 United Kingdom census The United Kingdom Census of 1881 recorded the people residing in every household on the night of Sunday 3 April 1881, and was the fifth of the UK censuses to include details of household members. Data recorded Details collected include: address, ...

there were three bearers of the surname. 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 1,353 people with the surname Wee, making it the 19,865th-most-common surname in the country, representing a slight increase from the 2000 census (1,295 people; 19,355th-most-common). In the 2010 census, roughly 22% 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 ...

(down from 29% in the 2000 census), while the number identifying as Asian increased from 62% in the 2000 census to 72% in the 2010 census.. As of 2021, there were 130 people in Norway with the surname Wee.

People

Adelene Wee Adelene Wee (born 1965) is a retired Singaporean bowling champion. She was the youngest winner, and the first Singaporean person to win the title of World Champion at the World Games. Biography Wee was born in 1965 to a large family with six oth ...

(born 1965), Singaporean bowling champion * Andrew Wee, Singaporean physicist *

Wee Bin Wee Bin () born in China in 1823, was a Chinese migrant of the mid-nineteenth century who founded what was, at the time, Singapore's largest Chinese shipping firm.One Hundred Years' History of the Chinese in Singapore by Ong Siang Song, 1923Family ...

(1823–1868), Chinese businessman in Singapore, founder of the shipping company Wee Bin & Co. * Wee Boon Teck (1850–1888), son of Wee Bin *

Wee Cho Yaw Wee Cho Yaw (; born 1929) is a Singaporean billionaire businessman, and chairman emeritus and honorary adviser of the United Overseas Bank (UOB) and United Industrial Corporation (UIC) in Singapore. He is also chairman of the UOL Group. Wee ...

(born 1929), Singaporean businessman, chairman of United Overseas Bank *

Wee Chong Jin Wee Chong Jin (; 28 September 1917 – 5 June 2005) was a Malayan-born Singaporean judge who served as the first chief justice of Singapore between 1963 and 1990, appointed by President Yusof Ishak. Born in Penang, Malaysia, he was the first ...

(1917–2005), first Chief Justice of Singapore *

Wee Choo Keong Wee Choo Keong (; born 26 June 1953) is a Malaysian politician. He was the Member of Parliament for Bukit Bintang from 1990 to 1995 and for Wangsa Maju from 2008 to 2013. Wee had been a member of the Democratic Action Party (DAP) before bein ...

(born 1953), Malaysian politician, MP for Bukit Bintang and later Wangsa Maju, Federal Territories * Wee Ee Cheong (born 1952/53), Singaporean businessman, CEO of United Overseas Bank *

Wee Han Wen Dato' Wee Han Wen is a Malaysian architect. He did his architectural studies in Australia. In 1998 he was appointed as chairman of the Miri Municipal Council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government ar ...

, Malaysian architect *

Wee Jeck Seng Dato' Sri Dr. Wee Jeck Seng (; born 20 April 1964) is a Malaysian politician. He is a member of the Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA), a component party of the Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition which is aligned with the Perikatan Nasional ...

(born 1964), Malaysian politician, MP for Tanjong Piai, Johor *

Wee Ka Siong Malay titles#Datuk Sri, Datuk Seri Engineer's degree, Ir. Doctor of Philosophy, Dr. Wee Ka Siong (; born 20 October 1968) is a Malaysian people, Malaysian politician, and engineer who served as Minister of Transport (Malaysia), Minister of Tra ...

(born 1968), Malaysian politician, MP for Ayer Hitam, Johor *

Wee Kheng Chiang Wee Kheng Chiang (; 1890–1978) was a Malaysian Chinese businessman of Quemoy Bân-lâm Hokkien ancestry who founded the United Chinese Bank (now United Overseas Bank). He is the father of Wee Cho Yaw, Chairman Emeritus & Adviser of the Uni ...

(1890–1978), Sarawak businessman, founder of United Overseas Bank *

Wee Kim Wee Wee Kim Wee ( zh, s=黄金辉, poj=Ûiⁿ Kim-hui, p=Huáng Jīnhuī, first=s,poj,p; 4 November 1915 – 2 May 2005) was a Singaporean journalist and diplomat who served as the fourth president of Singapore from 1985 until his resignation in ...

(1915–2005), fourth President of Singapore *

Wee Meng Chee use both this parameter and , birth_date to display the person's date of birth, date of death, and age at death) --> , death_place = , death_cause = , body_discovered = , resting_place = , resting_place_coordinate ...

(born 1983), Malaysian singer *

Royston Wee Royston Wee (born November 15, 1986) is a Singaporean mixed martial artist, currently competing as a bantamweight. Wee most recently competed in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). He is noted for being the first and only Singaporean fighter ...

(born 1986), Singaporean mixed martial artist *

Sharon Wee Sharon Wee Ee Lin (born 5 October 1977 in Melaka) is a former professional squash player who represented Malaysia. Career During 2007 she reached the finals of four events and won her first WISPA title in November in the NSC Tour 10 No. 2 in K ...

(born 1977), Singaporean squash player *

Wee Siew Kim Wee Siew Kim ( zh, s=黃守金, p=Huáng Shǒujīn, born 19 August 1960) is a Singaporean former politician. A member of the People's Action Party, he was a Member of the Parliament of Singapore representing the Ang Mo Kio Group Representation C ...

(born 1960), Singaporean politician with the People's Action Party * Gulleiv Wee (born 1969), Norwegian bassist *

Jarle Wee Jarle Wee (born 2 February 1972) was a Norwegian football striker. In his early career he played for SK Haugar. The team played in the second highest league in Norway, but performed badly in the 1992 season, conceding 97 goals. When the club FK ...

(born 1972), Norwegian football striker

References

{{surname Hokkien-language surnames Norwegian-language surnames