GGood Chinese Name

Chinese surname · rank 79

雷

雷 is read as léi.

Pinyin

léi

Script forms

Simplified and traditional 雷

Basic meaning

thunder

Five element

Fire

Origin

Time: Ancient Fang Lei tradition and later branches; Ancient surname tradition, before 221 BCE; exact calendar year not pinned by the attached sources

Place: Ancient Fang Lei tradition; exact place not fixed here

Origin note

A classical surname-source tradition links Lei with Fang Lei, described in Tongzhi as an ancient state or lineage source. The page should present this as a Fang Lei surname tradition and keep the thunder meaning as separate character imagery.

Historical figures

雷锋 (Lei Feng)

1940-1962 CE · soldier

A modern public-memory figure associated with service and model-worker narratives.

雷海宗 (Lei Haizong)

1902-1962 CE · historian

A modern historian and educator.

Sources checked