Xie

Xie 謝 (traditional) / 谢 (simplified) is a Chinese family name; it is estimated that there are about 2 million people with this surname, with most of them living in southern China. This surname literally means "thanks". The spelling of the same Chinese character using Wade-Giles romanization is Hsieh. The spelling "Hsieh" is most commonly used in Taiwan and in older romanizations. "Hsieh" tends to be incorrectly pronounced as "Shay" by those attempting to read it using English orthography. However, other variations are pronounced "Sh'eh" and the spelling is sometimes modified as Shieh. The Cantonese spelling of the same Chinese character is Tse or Tze and the Taishanese spelling of the same Chinese character is Dea, Der, or Dear. The Minnan (Hokkien) and Teochew spelling of the same Chinese character is Chia, Cheah, or Sia. The Vietnamese version of the same Chinese character is Tạ. In Malaysia and Singapore, the name is sometimes spelled Cheah, Seah or Chia. In the United States, the name is sometimes spelled as Zia. In the Philippines, the name is also spelled as Sese (which also means thank you in Kapampangan, a local dialect in Pampanga, Philippines where the first Xie/Sese settled). In Indonesia, the name is also spelt as Tjhia or Tjia. In East Timor, as a legacy of Portguese colonialism and lingua franca, Xie is also produced as Tchea , Tsia, Tcha and Tjea. Other variations of the surname include Shea and Shei.

The greater majority of Xie members are also members of the Hakka subgroup of the greater Han ethnicity.

The name was a prominent aristocratic family name in the Jin Dynasty of China.

Origin and history of Xie

Located in Xie Ying (谢营)，Nanyang (南阳), Henan province, China. King Xuan of Zhou (827–781 BC) of the Western Zhou Dynasty granted this area to his mother's family and the descendants of Shen Bo (his uncle) adopted the place name Xie as their surname. Xie means 'to thank'.

During the Eastern Jin and the Southern Dynasties period, the Yuan (袁) clan of the Chen (陳) state established extensive marriage alliances with the major clans Wang (王), Xiao (萧), and especially the Xie, whose ancestral lands were in the same commandery of Chen.

Chen Youliang, a fisherman from the Ming Dynasty was originally from the Xie clan, but his ancestors married into the Chen family and adopted the Chen surname because they only had daughters and no sons to carry on the family line.

Famous people with the surname Xie

• Xie An(谢安) (320–385), Chinese statesman and prime minister of the Jin Dynasty
• Xie Jun(谢军) (born 1970), Chinese chess champion
• Xie Shiguang (1917–2005), Chinese Catholic Bishop
• Helen Zia (born 1952), Chinese-American writer and feminist
• Empress Xie Fanjing (謝梵境) was an empress of the Chinese dynasty Liu Song.
• Xie He (謝赫), Chinese writer, art historian and critic in the 6th century.
• Nicholas Tse (謝霆鋒), Hong Kong based singer and actor
• Patrick Tse (謝賢), Actor, producer, screenwriter and director in Hong Kong cinema.
• Beau Sia (謝福源), Chinese-American slam poet.
• Xie Jinyuan (謝晉元), Commander of the Defense of Sihang Warehouse in the National Revolutionary Army of China during the Second Sino-Japanese War
• Kenneth Tse(謝德骥), renowned classical saxophone soloist
• Xie Wanying (谢婉莹，冰心，1900–1999), Chinese writer.
• Xie Daowen (谢道辒), a poet of the Jin Dynasty.
• Frank Hsieh (謝長廷), former Kaohsiung mayor, Premier of the Republic of China, and DPP's candidate for the 2008 ROC Presidency.
• Chia-Hsian Hsieh (謝佳賢), Taiwanese Professional Baseball player.
• Xiaoliang Sunney Xie (born 1962) Biochemist at Harvard University
• Fiona Xie (谢宛谕), Singaporean television actress.
• Amber Chia (谢麗萍), Malaysian model