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 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 Hunan is an inland Provinces of China, province in Central China. Located in the middle reaches of the Yangtze watershed, it borders the Administrative divisions of China, province-level divisions of Hubei to the north, Jiangxi to the east, Gu ...

. It is the 70th name on the ''

Hundred Family Surnames The ''Hundred Family Surnames'' (), commonly known as ''Bai Jia Xing'', also translated as ''Hundreds of Chinese Surnames'', is a classic Chinese language , Chinese text composed of common Chinese surnames. An unknown author compiled the book ...

'' poem.

Origin

The surname originated as a semantic variant of

Qing The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing, was a Manchu-led Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China and an early modern empire in East Asia. The last imperial dynasty in Chinese history, the Qing dynasty was preceded by the ...

(), which can be traced back to Qing Feng (), the great-grandson of

Duke Huan of Qi Duke Huan of Qi (), personal name Lü Xiaobai, was a duke of the Qi state, ruling from 685 BC to 643 BC. Duke Huan and his long-time advisor Guan Zhong managed to transform Qi into China's most powerful polity. Duke Huan is commonly listed amo ...

. In the Eastern Han dynasty, a well-known official and descendant of the Qing family, Qing Chun (), 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 (), the father of the

Emperor An of Han Emperor An of Han (; 9430 April 125) was an Emperor of the Han dynasty and the sixth emperor of the Eastern Han, ruling from 106 to 125. He was a grandson of Emperor Zhang and cousin to Emperor Shang of Han, who died while Deng Sui, the emp ...

, in order to avoid a

naming taboo A naming taboo is a cultural taboo against speaking or writing the given names of exalted persons, notably in China and within the Chinese cultural sphere. It was enforced by several laws throughout Imperial China, but its cultural and possibly ...

.The Oxford Dictionary of Family Names in Britain and Ireland Another origin was a shortened form of disyllabic surnames such as He Lan (), He Lai (), He Dun (), which were from the

Xianbei The Xianbei (; ) were an ancient nomadic people that once resided in the eastern Eurasian steppes in what is today Mongolia, Inner Mongolia, and Northeastern China. The Xianbei were likely not of a single ethnicity, but rather a multiling ...

ethnic group, shortened to He through cultural fusion with the Han people during Northern and Southern dynasties.

Notable people

He Jingzhi He Jingzhi (born 5 November 1924), also known by his pen names Aimo () and Jingzhi (), is a politician and poet of People's Republic of China. He was a standing committee member of the 8th Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, a st ...

(; born 1924), politician and poet * He Bingyan (; 1913–1960) was a general in the People's Liberation Army * He Mengfu (; 1911–1945) a Chinese film and theatre director from Wujin, Jiangsu *

He Jiankui He Jiankui ( zh, s=贺建奎, p=Hè Jiànkuí ; born 1984) is a Chinese biophysicist known for his controversial first use of genome editing in humans. He served as associate professor of biology at the Southern University of Science and ...

(), Chinese scientist known for the Lulu and Nana gene editing controversy * He Zhizhang (), Tang Dynasty poet *

He Long He Long (; March 22, 1896 – June 9, 1969) was a Chinese Communist revolutionary and a Marshal of the People's Republic of China. He was from a poor rural family in Hunan, and his family was not able to provide him with any formal education. H ...

(), Chinese military leader and one of the Ten Marshals of the People's Republic of China * He Zizhen () third wife of Mao Zedong from May 1930 to 1937 *

He Guoqiang He Guoqiang (; born October 1, 1943) is a retired senior leader of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Between 2007 and 2012, He was a member of the Politburo Standing Committee (PSC), China's most powerful decision-making body, and the Secreta ...

() retired senior leader of the Chinese Communist Party *

He Weifang He Weifang (born July 17, 1960; ) is a Chinese legal scholar and a former professor at Peking University. He has advocated for the reform of China's judicial system, and has argued that the Chinese Communist Party is unregistered and therefore a ...

(), professor at Peking University * Mike He (), Taiwanese actor * Anna Mae He (; born 1999), an American child who was the subject of a custody battle between her Chinese biological parents and American adopted parents * He Guan (; born 1993 in Tai'an) is a Chinese football player * He Ying (revolutionary) (), originally He Mingying (born 1886), was a Chinese revolutionary born in

Sangzhi County Sangzhi () is a county in Hunan Province, China, it is under administration of the prefecture-level city of Zhangjiajie. Located on the northern margin of Hunan, Sangzhi County is bordered to the east by Cili County, to the south by Yongding a ...

, Hunan province * (), notable Kuomingtang general that also served as Ministry of Transportation in Taiwan * He Junlin (), Chinese singer, member of Teens in Times

References

{{surname individual Chinese surnames