Xie (surname)

Xie
Pronunciation	Xiè (Pinyin) Siā (Pe̍h-ōe-jī)
Language(s)	Chinese, Vietnamese, Korean
Origin
Language(s)	Chinese
Word/Name	Descendants of Yuyang
Derivation	State of Xie
Meaning	to thank
Other names
Variant(s)	Xie, Hsieh (Mandarin) Tse, Tze, Che, Jay (Cantonese) Chia, Cheah, Sia (Hokkien) Chia (Teochew) Sa (Korean) Tạ (Vietnamese)

Xie (simplified Chinese: 谢; traditional Chinese: 謝; pinyin: Xiè; Wade–Giles: Hsieh⁴) is a Chinese family name; it is estimated that there are about two million people worldwide with this surname, the majority of whom live in southern China, and a 2006 study found that Xie was the 24th most common surname in China,^[1] with 0.27% of the population having this surname.^[2] The greater majority of Xie members are also members of the Hakka people of the greater Han ethnicity.

The surname originated in two major branches: during the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors period, and near the end of the Western Zhou Dynasty. It was a prominent aristocratic clan in the Eastern Jin dynasty of China. The hometown of the Xie is Kaifeng, Henan Province.

Variations

The spelling of the same Chinese character using Wade–Giles romanization is Hsieh. The spelling "Hsieh" is most commonly used in Taiwan and in older romanizations. "Hsieh" tends to be incorrectly pronounced as "Shay" by those attempting to read it using English orthography. However, other variations are pronounced "Sh'eh" and the spelling is sometimes modified as Shieh.

The Cantonese spelling of the same Chinese character is Tse, Tze or Che and the Taishanese spelling of the same Chinese character is Dea, Der, Dare, or Dear. The Min Nan (Hokkien) and Teochew spelling of the same Chinese character is Chia, Cheah, or Sia.

In Malaysia and Singapore, the name is most commonly Chia, although Cheah, Seah, Sia, Cha, Tse, Chay etc. can also be found. During the Chinese diaspora, the region was administered by British Empire clerks, who knew little about Chinese dialects, often had to find their own romanizations. As a result, the variations are non-exhaustive.

In the Philippines, the name is also spelled as Sese (which also means thank you in Kapampangan, a local dialect in Pampanga, Philippines where the first Xie settled). In Indonesia, the name is also spelt as Tjhia or Tjia. In East Timor, as a legacy of Portuguese colonialism and lingua franca, Xie is also produced as Tchia, Tchea, Tsia, Tcha and Tjea. The Vietnamese version is Tạ.

In the United States, the name is sometimes spelled as Jair and Zia. Other variations of the surname include Shea and Shei.

Variation table

Origin and History

from an area called Xie, in present-day Henan province. Xuan Wang, the penultimate king (827–781 bc) of the Western Zhou dynasty, granted this area to one of his brothers-in-law, and the latter’s descendants adopted the place name Xie as their surname.

Famous people with the surname Xie

Xie clan of Chen commandery

• Xie An (謝安) (320–385), Statesman and Prime Minister of the Jin dynasty
• Xie Daoyun (謝道韫) (340-399), Jin dynasty scholar, poet and debater
• Xie Xuan (謝玄) (343-388), Duke of Kangle, Jin Dynasty general
• Xie Lingyun (謝靈運) (385–433), Duke of Kangle, Jin Dynasty poet
• Empress Xie Fanjing (謝梵境), Empress of the Liu Song Dynasty
• Xie He (謝赫), Liu Song and Southern Qi writer, art historian and critic.

Politics & military

• Hsieh Tung-min (謝東閔) (1908-2001), Kuomintang politician and first local Vice-President of the Republic of China
• Xie Fuzhi (谢富治) (1909-1972), Communist Party of China military commander and political commissar
• Xie Jinyuan (謝晉元), Commander of the Defense of Sihang Warehouse in the National Revolutionary Army of China during the Second Sino-Japanese War
• Frank Hsieh (謝長廷), former Kaohsiung mayor, Premier of the Republic of China, and DPP's candidate for the 2008 ROC Presidency.

Entertainment and business

• Xie Jin (谢晋) (1923-2008), film director
• Michael Tse (謝天華), Hong Kong actor
• Nicholas Tse (謝霆鋒), Hong Kong based singer and actor
• Patrick Tse (謝賢), actor, producer, screenwriter and director in Hong Kong cinema.
• Kenneth Tse (謝德骥), classical saxophone soloist
• Xie Shaoguang (谢韶光), Singapore television actress
• Fiona Xie (谢宛谕), Singaporean television actress
• Amber Chia (谢麗萍), Malaysian model
• Beau Sia (謝福源), Chinese-American slam poet.
• Tony Hsieh, Zappos.com CEO
• Jeffrey Cheah (謝富年), Founder and chairman of The Sunway Group of Companies in Malaysia.

Literature and art

• Xie Jin (謝縉) (1369–1415), Ming dynasty landscape painter and calligrapher
• Dr. Cheah Thien Soong, Malaysian contemporary ink-painting artist
• Xie Jun (谢军) (born 1970), two-time Women's World Chess Champion
• Xie Zhe-Qing (謝哲青) (born 1973), Taiwanese literature and history scholar, travel writer

Sports

• Xie Limei (谢荔梅), Chinese triple jumper
• Xie Xingfang (谢杏芳), badminton player from the People's Republic of China
• Xie Zhongbo (谢中博), badminton player from the People's Republic of China
• Hsieh Chia-hsien (謝佳賢), Taiwanese professional baseball player
• Hsieh Su-wei, professional tennis player

Religion

• Xie Shiguang (1917–2005), Chinese Catholic Bishop
• Nicholas Chia (谢益裕), Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore

References

This page or section lists people with the surname Xie. If an internal link intending to refer to a specific person led you to this page, you may wish to change that link by adding the person's given name(s) to the link.