GGood Chinese Name

Chinese surname · rank 420

来

来 is read as lái.

Pinyin

lái

Script forms

Simplified 来 · Traditional 來

Basic meaning

come, coming; return, returning

Five element

Earth

Origin

Time: Xia-dynasty tradition, c. 2070-1600 BCE

Place: Chen / Lai fief traditions in Central Plains accounts; Lai state / Lai Hou branch traditions; later Zhejiang Xiaoshan, Henan Yanling, Sichuan Liangshan, Hui, Mongol, and Taiwan Pingpu contexts

Origin note

Lai/来 is treated as a multi-source surname rather than the everyday verb to come. One layer derives it from a Lai or Lai fief connected with Chen descendants. Another derives it from the ancestor name Jilai in a Yu or Gui-lineage tradition. Other layers connect Lai with Shang royal fiefs, Lai state or Lai Hou descendants simplifying their surname, and later Hui, Mongol, and Taiwan Pingpu naming contexts. The page keeps these parallel traditions separate.

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