Ke / K'o
The contemporary Ke surname population is about 800,000, accounting for about 0.064% of China’s population and ranking 165th nationally. It is mainly concentrated in Zhejiang, Guangdong, Fujian, Anhui, and Taiwan; Zhejiang is the largest province, and a distribution area centered on Zhejiang and Guangdong has formed along the southeastern coast.
The origins of the Ke surname include: the Ji surname, from descendants of Wu prince Kelu in the Spring and Autumn period; the Jiang surname, from a Qi official whose fief was at Keze and whose descendants took the settlement as their surname; and a place name, from residents of Ke, a Wei territory in the Spring and Autumn period.
Modern Ke families generally regard Ke Xiang, ruler of Wu, as the founding ancestor of the surname. Other places associated with its origin include the Spring and Autumn Wei settlement of Ke around present-day Neihuang, Henan; the Qi settlement of Ke around present-day Yanggu, Shandong; Keling in Zheng; and Ke River in eastern ancient Zhejiang.
Genealogical migration examples include Ke Cheng, who during the Tang Qianfu era avoided Huang Chao’s army and traveled with his son Ping and grandson Ying from Jianchang to Chaisang; and Ke Yingqing, who in the late Ming moved from Quanzhou to Taoyuan and then moved to Guangxin Prefecture in the early Kangxi era of the Qing.
Historical figures with the Ke surname include Southern Song poet Ke Mengde, Ming historian Ke Weiqi, Ming-dynasty top candidate Ke Qian, Ming vice censor-in-chief Ke Chang, Yuan painter and calligrapher Ke Jiusi, and Ming Neo-Confucian scholar Ke Shangqian.
Start with ancestral counties, villages, personal names and dates. Record genealogy titles, volumes, editions and catalog identifiers. A shared surname does not prove a shared lineage; compare branch records.
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