Chinese surname · rank 188
艾
艾 is read as ài.
ài
Simplified and traditional 艾
artemisia, mugwort
Earth
Time: Xia minister tradition; Shang Ai state; Spring and Autumn Ai-place tradition; Xia-dynasty tradition, c. 2070-1600 BCE
Place: Ai state and Ai Ling traditions, including Jiangxi Xiushui and Shandong Ai Ling accounts, plus later regional changed-surname layers
Origin note
is a multi-origin surname, so its page should not treat the plant meaning as the surname origin. One traditional account traces to Ru Ai, also written Nu Ai, a minister in the Xia Shaokang story whose descendants used as a surname. Another line is place-based: surname sources connect with Ai Ling and with people using the first character of that place name. 23mofang also records an Ai state-name layer from the Shang period and later changed-surname layers, including minority surname changes. The page therefore presents as an ancestor-name, state-name, and place-name surname with several source-backed strands.
Historical figures
Historical figures to enrich
This surname page is ready for a fame-ranked figure list. Later passes can add generals, poets, rulers, artists, scholars and modern public figures with source links.