Chinese surname · rank 395
能
能 is read as nài.
nài
Simplified and traditional 能
to be able; can, permitted to; ability
Earth
Time: Spring and Autumn tradition, 770-476 BCE
Place: Chu royal Xiong-lineage tradition, usually associated with the Chu cultural sphere; later surname distribution noted in Henan and Shanxi traditions
Origin note
Nai/能 as a surname is treated here as a Chu royal-lineage changed-graph tradition, not as the everyday word meaning ability. The main source-backed account says a branch descended from Xiong Zhi of Chu fled danger and wrote the surname as Neng/能, often explained as a graphic change from Xiong/熊. Later sources preserve the same tradition with variant details, so the page presents it as a surname-source layer rather than a proven single-event biography.
Historical figures
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