Mai Family History

Chinese: Mandarin form of the surname 麥 meaning ‘wheat’ in Chinese: (i) from Mai Qiu (麥丘) the title of a man in the state of Qi (located mainly in present-day Shandong province) during the Spring and Autumn period (770–476 BC) who despite being very old came to celebrate the birthday of the Duke Huan of Qi (ruler of the state of Qi died 643 BC). His descendants inherited 麥 the first part of his title as their surname. (ii) borne by descendants of Mai Tie Zhang (麥鐵杖) a famous general during the Sui dynasty (581–618 AD). His descendants were scattered around southern China. Chinese: Mandarin and Cantonese form of the surname 買 meaning ‘buy’ in Chinese: (i) borne by descendants of the king Song Weizi founder of the state of Song. (ii) borne by descendants of the Duke Dao of Xu (ruler of the state of Xu 546–523 BC) possibly inheriting his personal name. (iii) from the first element of the personal name Mai Zhu Chu (買朱鉏) style name of an official who lived during the Spring and Autumn period (770–476 BC). (iv) it has also been traced back to other ethnic groups in northern China. Chinese: Cantonese form of the surname 米 see Mi . Chinese: variant Romanization of the surname 马 see Ma Chinese: variant Romanization of the surname 梅 see Mei Vietnamese: from the Chinese surname 梅 see Mei 7: German: variant of May 2 ‘May’. This surname is also found in France (Alsace and Lorraine) and Denmark.

Source: Dictionary of American Family Names 2nd edition, 2022