Explore the Family Name He
The meaning of He
1. Chinese: Mandarin form of the surname 何, which meant ‘ask’ or ‘what?’ in ancient Chinese: (i) from the surname Han (韓), the name of a state during the Warring States period. In 230 BC the state of Han was annihilated by the state of Qin. Some of the descendants of Han Wang An (韓王安, ‘An, King of Han’), the last king of Han, fled to the area around the Yangtze and Huai (淮) rivers, where the surname Han (韓) had a similar pronunciation to that of the Chinese character He (何) in the local dialects, so they adopted the surname He (何) as a surname. (ii) from one of the ‘Nine Sogdian Surnames’, in Chinese also known as ‘nine surnames of Zhaowu’, because their ancestors came from Zhaowu, an ancient city in present-day Gansu province in northwestern China. During the Sui and Tang dynasties (581–987 AD) there were nine Sogdian states in Central Asia, one of which was called He (何) in Chinese. Between 649 and 655 AD, these states submitted to Emperor Gaozong of Tang (628–83 AD). The people from this state and their descendants acquired the surname He. (iii) from the name of He Miao (何苗), who changed his original surname Zhu (朱) to He (何) during the Western Han dynasty (206 BC–25 AD). (iv) For some families, this surname is traced back to Suo Ming (鎖銘), the son of an ambassador (Suo Nan, 鎖南) from Tibet in the 12th century ad. Suo Ming was appointed to a post in Hezhou (in present-day Gansu province) and endowed with the surname He by Hongwu Emperor (Zhu Yuanzhang, founder of the Ming dynasty) in 1371 AD. (v) a surname of the Tuyuhun (吐谷渾) ethnic group, originating in the Wudai period (907–60 AD). 2. Chinese: Mandarin form of the surname 賀, meaning ‘celebrate, congratulate’ in Chinese: (i) a semantic variant of Qing (慶) (see Qing 1). In the Eastern Han dynasty (25–220 AD), a descendant of the Qing family, Qing Chun (慶純), a well-known official, changed his surname to He (賀), which has the same meaning as Qing (meaning ‘celebrate’), because his surname Qing happened to be the personal name of Liu Qing (刘慶), the father of Emperor An of Han (94–125 AD), which was a taboo that Qing Chun wanted to avoid. (ii) shortened form of disyllabic surnames such as He Lan (賀蘭), He Lai (賀賴), He Dun (賀敦), which were surnames from the Xianbei ethnic group, shortened to He through cultural fusion with the Han people during South and North Dynasties (420–589 AD). This surname is common in Henan province. 3. Chinese: Mandarin form of the surname 和, meaning ‘peace’ in Chinese: (i) for some families, this surname is traced back to Xi He (羲和), an official in charge of astronomy during the reign of the legendary Emperor Yao (c.24th century bc). His descendants He Zhong (和仲) and He Shu (和叔) took his personal name He (和) as their surname. (ii) for other families, it is traced back to Bian He (卞和), a person from the state of Chu (楚) during the Spring and Autumn period (770 BC–476 BC), who discovered a gem known as He-shi Bi (和氏璧). (iii) from Su He (素和), a disyllabic surname from the Xianbei ethnic group. 4. Chinese: Mandarin form of the surname 赫: (i) said to be traced back to a legendary king He Xu Shi (赫胥氏). (ii) adopted as a Han Chinese surname by minority ethnic groups in China. 5. Chinese: alternative Mandarin form of the surname 黑, see Hei 1. 6. Chinese: variant Romanization of the surname 許, possibly based on its Hakka or Hokkien pronunciation, see Xu 2. 7. Chinese: Teochew form of the surname 夏, see Xia. 8. Vietnamese (Hề): from the Chinese surname 奚, see Xi 1. Some characteristic forenames: Chinese Wei, Bin, Li, Ming, Ping, Yi, Jian, Min, Feng, Lei, Qing, Xin, Yan, Tian, Chang, Neng, Sha, Yiping, You. Vietnamese Hao, Huan, Cong, Lan, Hai, Hieu, Ngan, Nu, Pu, Quan.
Dictionary of American Family Names, 2nd edition, © Oxford University Press, 2022.
How common is the last name He in the United States?
Based on the Decennial U.S. Census, the popularity of the surname "He" has significantly increased from 2000 to 2010. In the year 2000, it was ranked 4600 in terms of frequency, but by 2010 it had risen to rank 2373, representing a notable growth of 48.41 percent. The count of people bearing this surname more than doubled over the same period, escalating from 7057 to 15363 individuals, a remarkable increase of 117.7 percent. Moreover, the proportion of individuals with the surname "He" per 100k of the population also escalated by 98.85 percent.
| 2000 | 2010 | Change | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | #4,600 | #2,373 | 48.41% |
| Count | 7,057 | 15,363 | 117.7% |
| Proportion per 100k | 2.62 | 5.21 | 98.85% |
Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name He
In regards to ethnic identity as reported in the Decennial U.S. Census, the majority of individuals with the surname "He" identify as Asian/Pacific Islander. This group saw a slight increase from 95.47 percent in 2000 to 95.92 percent in 2010. Meanwhile, those identifying as two or more races decreased by 51.96 percent. There was a small decrease of 3.78 percent in those who identify as White. The Hispanic population under this surname, however, experienced a significant rise of 34.72 percent. The data for Black, American Indian and Alaskan Native populations were not present or were suppressed for privacy.
| 2000 | 2010 | Change | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Asian/Pacific Islander | 95.47% | 95.92% | 0.47% |
| White | 2.38% | 2.29% | -3.78% |
| Hispanic | 0.72% | 0.97% | 34.72% |
| Two or More Races | 1.02% | 0.49% | -51.96% |
| Black | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| American Indian and Alaskan Native | 0% | 0% | 0% |
He ancestry composition
23andMe computes an ancestry breakdown for each customer. People may have ancestry from just one population or they may have ancestry from several populations. The most commonly-observed ancestry found in people with the surname He is Chinese, which comprises 88.2% of all ancestry found in people with the surname. The next two most common ancestries are Chinese Dai (3.0%) and Manchurian & Mongolian (2.4%). Additional ancestries include Vietnamese, Korean, British & Irish, French & German, and Iranian, Caucasian & Mesopotamian.
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| ANCESTRY BREAKDOWN | COMPOSITION |
|---|---|
| Chinese | 88.2% |
| Chinese Dai | 3.0% |
| Manchurian & Mongolian | 2.4% |
| Other | 6.4% |
Possible origins of the surname He
Your DNA provides clues about where your recent ancestors may have lived. Having many distant relatives in the same location suggests that you may all share common ancestry there. Locations with many distant relatives can also be places where people have migrated recently, such as large cities. If a large number of individuals who share your surname have distant relatives in a specific area, it could indicate a connection between your surname and that location, stemming from either recent ancestral ties or migration.
Based on 23andMe data, people with last name He have recent ancestry locations all within China.
| RECENT ANCESTRY Location | Percentage |
|---|---|
| Guangdong, China | 44.00% |
| Shanghai, China | 43.70% |
| Zhejiang, China | 43.50% |
| Jiangsu, China | 43.50% |
| Shandong, China | 43.50% |
What He haplogroups can tell you
Haplogroups are genetic population groups that share a common ancestor on either your paternal or maternal line. These paternal and maternal haplogroups shed light on your genetic ancestry and help tell the story of your family.
The top paternal haplogroup of people with the surname He is O-F8, which is predominantly found among people with East Asian & Indigenous American ancestry. Haplogroup O-F8 is descended from haplogroup O-M1359. Other common haplogroups include O-F11 and O-F46, which are predominantly found among people with East Asian & Indigenous American and East Asian & Indigenous American ancestry. Other surnames with similar common haplogroups are: Wu, Chang, Tang, Wang, Cheng, Huang, Lu, Chen, Xu, Liu.
The most common maternal haplogroups of people with He surname are: A4, D4, M7b. These most commonly trace back to individuals of East Asian & Indigenous American and European ancestry.
Paternal Haplogroup Origins O-M1359
Your paternal lineage may be linked to the Han Chinese
Haplogroup O-Page23 has been found in several populations of the Han Chinese ethnic group. The ancestors of the Han, called the Huaxia, lived in the upriver basin of the Yellow River 5,000-6,000 years ago. As agricultural technology improved, the Huaxia spread east and south, and became the Han Chinese. Over the last 2,000 years, there have been three major migrations of the Han southward. The first of these migrations occurred during the Jin Dynasty from 317 to 420 CE, when nearly one million people moved south. A second migration occurred during the Tang Dynasty, after the An-Shi Rebellion, between 755 and 762 CE. The last migration occurred during the Southern Song Dynasty, from 1127 to 1297 CE, when nearly 5 million people migrated southward. The Pinghua, a branch of Han in which haplogroup O2a2b1a1 is particularly common, may be descendants of indigenous minority groups that adopted Han culture during one such major migration event.
Your maternal lineage may be linked to the ancient people of the Indian subcontinent
While Haplogroup M is widespread throughout South and East Asia, it is more diverse on the Indian sub-continent than anywhere else in the world. The high degree of diversity of M in India is likely tied to its ancient arrival here nearly 50,000 years ago. In addition to M2, which is found throughout the subcontinent, there are dozens of haplogroups branching off of M that exist in India. These branches are often connected to specific regions, tribes, or ethnic groups. For example, haplogroup M18 is found among the Oraon peoples of eastern India and Bangladesh, while haplogroup M41 is common among the Pardhan speakers of eastern India, and haplogroup M31a can be found on the Andaman Islands, just off the southeast coast of India.
What do people with the surname He have in common?
Spoiler alert: it's complicated. People with the same last name are usually no more genetically similar than a randomly sampled group of people from the same population. That said, people with the same surname are more likely to have similar ancestries than randomly sampled individuals. The reason is the tendency of people with similar cultural or geographical backgrounds to preferentially mate with one another. That's why people who share a surname may be more likely to share traits and tendencies in common than people within the general population. Check out the percentages below to see the prevalences of tastes, habits, and traits of people with your surname compared with prevalences among 23andMe users.
Preferences
Chocolate Ice Cream
Prefers chocolate flavored ice cream over other flavors.
"He" Surname 25.0%
23andMe Users 41.3%
Traits
Misophonia
When sounds made by others, like the sound of chewing or yawning, provoke strong emotional reactions in an individual.
"He" Surname 20.0%
23andMe Users 27.9%
Habits
Sugary Drink
Drinks one or more sugary drinks per day.
"He" Surname 14.8%
23andMe Users 21.1%
Wellness
Migraine
A severe headache characterized by intense pain, sensitivity to light and sound, and often accompanied by nausea and vomiting.
"He" Surname 4.4%
23andMe Users 16.4%
Are health conditions linked to the last name He?
The short answer is that, if there is an association between surname and health, it's usually more about your ancestry than your name. Individuals with a given surname are no more genetically similar than the general population but often have similar ancestries. The populations of people associated with those shared ancestries often have sets of genetic variations, also known as alleles, in common. Some of those alleles are associated with a greater likelihood of developing certain diseases.
Disease variant frequency by ancestry
Disease allele frequencies in populations associated with the surname He are shown below. Important Note: not everyone with a disease allele will develop these health condition