Origins of the He (何) surname
Chinese sources record 7 separate lines of origin for the He (何) surname. Each is summarised below with its source.
Originated from the Ji (姬) surname
The He (何) surname originated from descendants of King Wen of Zhou (Zhou Wenwang, 周文王). After the state of Han (Han, 韩) was destroyed by Qin (Qin, 秦), its royal descendants scattered across the Jianghuai (Jianghuai, 江淮) region; due to the phonetic similarity between ‘Han’ and ‘He’ in local dialects, they adopted He as their surname.
Originated from Han Jian (韩瑊) changing his surname to avoid disaster
Han Jian (韩瑊), a noble official of the state of Han (Han, 韩), fled to Lujiang (Lujiang, 庐江) after Qin (Qin, 秦) conquered the six warring states. To evade scrutiny by Qin officials, he first used the homophone ‘Han’ (寒) for ‘Han’ (韩), then modified the character ‘He’ (河) by adding the ‘ren’ (人) radical to form the surname ‘He’ (何).
Originated from adopting or being granted the He (何) surname
He Miao (何苗) of the Eastern Han dynasty originally bore the Zhu (朱) surname but adopted the He (何) surname upon joining the family of Empress He (He Shi, 何氏), thereby establishing a branch of the He (何) lineage.
Originated from the Dongyi (东夷) ethnic group’s surname
A He (何) surname existed among the Dongyi (东夷) people during the time of the Yellow Emperor (Huangdi, 黄帝); during the Xia dynasty (Xia, 夏), members of the Hebo (Hebo, 河伯) tribe migrated westward to Shaanxi (Shaanxi, 陕西) and Henan (Henan, 河南), eventually integrating into the Han Chinese population.
Originated from the Yao (瑶) ethnic group
Yao (瑶) ethnic migrants from Hunan (Hunan, 湖南), having undergone Sinicization, entered Sichuan (Sichuan, 四川) and adopted the He (何) surname.
Originated from the Xianbei (鲜卑) Heba (贺拔) surname
Members of the Xianbei (鲜卑) ethnic group bearing the Heba (贺拔) surname changed to the He (何) surname in order to integrate into Han Chinese society.
Originated from the Jiuxing Danjia (九姓疍家)
The He (何) surname among the Jiuxing (九姓) fishermen of the Qiantang River (Qiantang Jiang, 钱塘江) basin belongs to the Danjia (疍家) community.