Chinese surname · rank 266
代
代 is read as dài.
dài
Simplified and traditional 代
replace, replacement (of person or generation); era, generation
Earth
Time: Ancient Zhou-period state layer, Northern-Wei Dai Ti layer, early historical figure layer from Warring States through Han-Song-Ming references, and modern second-simplification or character-substitution layer; Ancient surname tradition, before 221 BCE; exact calendar year not pinned by the attached sources
Place: Ancient state around today's southeast Yu County, Hebei; Northern Wei Yifu/Daibei context; modern distribution in Sichuan, Hubei, Shandong, Henan, Liaoning, Chongqing, Anhui, Hebei, Guizhou, Yunnan, and other provinces; separate -source families in Henan, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Anhui, and related migration regions
Origin note
must be handled separately from while recognizing that modern records often mix the two. One source-backed line treats as a state-name surname: a Zhou-period Dai or state, placed around todays southeast Yu County in Hebei, was destroyed by Zhao Xiangzi, and some descendants used the state name. A second line comes from northern ethnic history: Mingmen Xiupu records a Northern Wei Yifu leader named Dai Ti, whose descendants formed a branch. A third and very important modern layer is character substitution from : 23mofangs page explicitly notes that many families came from changed to , and modern summaries point to the short-lived second-round simplified-character period and later voluntary retention of by some families. The page keeps ancient -state and Dai Ti layers separate from modern -to- families.
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.