Chinese surname · rank 487

扎 is read as zhā.

Pinyin

zhā

Script forms

Simplified 扎 · Traditional 紮

Basic meaning

pull up; pierce; struggle free

Five element

Earth

Origin

Time: Modern surname-dictionary and Tibetan / ethnic surname evidence, 20th-21st century CE; older origin not securely pinned

Place: Tibetan / Tubo surname and clan contexts including Zhangzhung, Qiongbo, Marpa/Ladakh and Burang; later rare-surname distribution also recorded in Yunnan, Qinghai, Gansu, Shanxi, Xinjiang and other localities.

Origin note

Zha should be presented as a rare surname with ethnic and name-element layers, not as a simple Han founder story. The checked surname dictionaries list Tubo/Tibetan, Xibe and Mongol layers, while also warning that some uses of Zha as a surname may reflect later Han-style interpretation of Tibetan names such as Zhaxi or Lahu male-name prefixes. The page therefore treats the origin as multi-layered and keeps the caution visible.

Historical figures

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