Tse (surname)

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Xie 謝 (traditional) / 谢 (simplified) is a Chinese family name; it is estimated that there are about 2 million people with this surname, with most of them living in southern China. 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" is mainly pronounced as "Shay". 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 or Tze. The Minnan (Hokkien) and Teochew spelling of the same Chinese character is Chia or Sia. The Vietnamese version of the same Chinese character is Tạ. In Malaysia, the name is sometimes spelled Cheah, Seah or Chia. In the United States, the name is sometimes spelled as Zia. 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/Sese settled). In Indonesia, the name is also spelt as Tjhia or Tjia. In East Timor, as a legacy of Portguese colonialism and lingua franca, Xie is also produced as Tchea , Tsia and Tcha. The greater majority of Xie members are also members of the Hakka subgroup of the greater Han ethnicity.

The name was a prominent aristocratic family name in the Jin Dynasty of China. When used as a verb, "xie" means to express gratitude and to thank. When used as a noun, it means gratitude and thanks.

Variation Language Common Place
Xiè Mandarin/Pinyin Romanization Mainland China
Chia/Sia Hokkien (Minnan) and Teochew Overseas Chinese
Tse/Tze Cantonese Hong Kong
Tjhia/Tjia Bahasa Indonesia Indonesia
Cheah/Seah/Chia Bahasa Malayasia Malaysia
Sese Filipino and Kapampangan Philippines
Hsieh/Shieh Wade-Giles romanization Taiwan
Tchea/Tsia/Tcha Portuguese Timor-Leste
Zia American English United States
Tạ Vietnamese VietNam


Origin and history of Xie

Located in Xie Ying (谢营),Nanyang (南阳), Henan province, China. King Xuan of Zhou (827–781 BC) of the Western Zhou Dynasty granted this area to his mother's family and the descendants of Shen Bo (his uncle) adopted the place name Xie as their surname. Xie means 'to thank'.

During the Eastern Jin and the Southern Dynasties period, the Yuan (袁) clan of the Chen (陳) state established extensive marriage alliances with the major clans Wang (王), Xiao (萧), and especially the Xie, whose ancestral lands were in the same commandery of Chen.

Chen Youliang, a fisherman from the Ming Dynasty was originally from the Xie clan, but his ancestors married into the Chen family and adopted the Chen surname because they only had daughters and no sons to carry on the family line.

Famous people with the surname Xie


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  • This page was last modified on 24 November 2008, at 02:55.

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