Surname Overview
Regional Concentrations in the Song and Ming Periods
In the Song dynasty, the Wei surname was concentrated mainly in Henan, Guangxi, Hubei, and Anhui, forming two major areas in Yu-E-Wan and Guangxi. In the Ming dynasty, it was concentrated mainly in Zhejiang, Guangxi, and Jiangsu, forming two population clusters in southeastern Zhe-Su-Wan and the southern Liangguang region.
Reference: 韦姓起源分布与家谱家族
Contemporary Ancestral-Home Distribution
Among 23Mofang genetic-testing users, Wei users' ancestral origins are concentrated mainly in Guangxi, Jiangsu, and Guangdong, accounting for 51.9%, 11.0%, and 5.2%, respectively.
Reference: 韦姓起源分布与家谱家族
Origins
Origin in Shiwei
The Wei surname is traced to the descendants of Zhuanxu of Gaoyang. During the Xia dynasty, Shaokang enfeoffed Yuan Zhe, a descendant of Peng Zu, in Shiwei, where the Shiwei clan arose. After Shiwei was destroyed, its descendants adopted the state name as their surname, forming the Shiwei and Wei surnames.
Reference: 韦姓起源分布与家谱家族
Historical Records
Hou Wei in Oracle-Bone Inscriptions
Oracle-bone inscriptions attest the existence of the Zi-surname “Hou Wei” in the Shang dynasty; the history of the Peng-surname Wei lineage is at least 3,200 years long.
Reference: 韦姓起源分布与家谱家族
Migration and Distribution
Historical Migration and Distribution
After the destruction of Shiwei, some Wei people migrated north to present-day Northeast China, while others moved northwest to Shaanxi and Gansu. During the Qin and Han periods, one branch moved east from Pengcheng to the Meng and Lu regions of Shandong, while another moved south to Guizhou, Yunnan, and Guangxi. By the Three Kingdoms and Jin periods, the Wei surname was distributed north and south of the Yangtze River.
Reference: 韦姓起源分布与家谱家族
Genealogy and Generation Names
Ethnic Distribution and Surname Changes
Some non-Han origins among people with the Wei surname arose through surname changes: after entering the Central Plains, people from the Shule kingdom in the early Han adopted Wei; Han-surname people in the Western Han and Huan-surname people in the Tang changed to Wei; and some Western Xia people in the Song also bore the Wei surname. In the early Qing, Wei was prominent among the native chieftains of southern and southwestern regions.
Reference: 韦姓起源分布与家谱家族
