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Ma (surname 麻)

Chinese family name (麻)

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General referenceInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionJan 16, 2025
Entity authorityQ1924163 ↗
Source-derived summary

Ma (麻) is a Chinese surname. According to a 2013 study, it was the 253rd most common name in China; it was shared by 330,000 people, or 0.025% of the population, being most popular in Zhejiang. It is the 135th name in the Hundred Family Surnames poem.

It should not be confused with Mǎ (马/馬) ("horse"), one of the most common surnames in China.

Origins

The character 麻 denotes a plant, usually hemp, sesame or flax.

Editorial summary

Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Ma (surname 麻)” is chinese family name (麻). The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through surname, Chinese and family, not as a finished interpretation.

Editorial reviewA dependable orientation record for establishing vocabulary, names and a first evidence trail. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—2013—that can be checked directly. The selected authority fields contribute no independent date. For this dossier, surname, Chinese and family is the immediate research focus.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

The phrase “chinese family name (麻)” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.

Evidence profile

The citation trail is more important than the brevity of the summary: it shows where individual claims can be examined in context. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jan 16, 2025. The linked authority identifier is Q1924163. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 2013.

Critical limits

A concise general-reference account can conceal disagreements about scope, terminology or the weight assigned to individual sources. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.

Best used for
  • Subject orientation
  • Search vocabulary
  • Locating named sources
Verify next

The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Ma (surname 麻)”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Ma (surname 麻) primary sources, Ma (surname 麻) archive and surname research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Ma (surname 麻)”?
  2. Which cited source is closest to the event, object or claim?
  3. What terminology or title could unlock a more precise catalogue search?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “Ma (surname 麻)” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.