yuè 越

Migration and Distribution (Information missing) The Yue surname is not among the top 100 surnames in the mainland of China and Taiwan. According to the "Wan Xing Tong Pu" (General Compilation of Surnames), there are three branches of the Yue clan. The first branch consists of the descendants of Goujian, the King of Yue. It is a surname derived from the name of a state. The second branch of the Yue clan changed from the Yueqiang clan to the single - character Yue surname. The third branch changed from the Yuezhi clan to the Yue surname. The Yue surname originated from the Si surname. During the Xia Dynasty, Emperor Shaokang enfeoffed his illegitimate son Wuyu in Kuaiji (present - day Shaoxing City, Zhejiang Province), asking him to be in charge of various matters related to ancestor worship. Later, Wuyu established a small state in the area around Kuaiji Mountain and named it Yue. The people of the state took Yue as their surname. The state of Yue developed very rapidly and produced great figures like Goujian, the King of Yue. Therefore, the Yue surname also developed rapidly. During the reign of Emperor Xiaowen of the Northern Wei Dynasty, when the Yuele clan and the Yuezhijie clan of the Xianbei ethnic group entered the Central Plains, they also changed their surnames to Yue in order to adapt to Han culture.