Mei (
Chinese: 梅;
pinyin: Méi) is a romanized spelling of a
Chinese surname, transcribed in the
Mandarin dialect. In
Hong Kong and other
Cantonese-speaking regions, the name may be transliterated as Mui or Moy.[1] In
Vietnam, this surname is written as Mai. In romanized Korean, it is spelled Mae. The name literally translates in English to the
plum fruit. The progenitor of the Méi clan, Méi Bo, originated from near a mountain in ancient China that was lined at its base with plum trees.[2]
"Mei" is also an Italian surname, and one transcription of the Slavic surname also spelt Mey (Мей).
Origins
The Méi
clan came from the
Zi (子) family. They were awarded a
kingdom in the southeast of Bo County in
Anhui called Mei kingdom. The Méi
ancestral hometown is located 60 miles southeast of
Runan county,
Henan province in central
China.
The first patriarch of the Méi lineage was
Méi Bo or the
Earl of Méi.[1] During
King Zhou's reign (
Shang Dynasty, 1766-1122 BCE), Méi Bo pleaded repeatedly to King Zhou to repent from his cruel and corrupt ways. Méi Bo's convictions angered the erratic ruler, which he viewed as insubordination. As punishment, the Earl of Méi was beheaded. Inspired by Méi Bo's acts, his descendants subsequently adopted the surname of Méi to pay homage to this ancient noble.
This page lists people with the
surnameMei. If an
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