Mài is a Chinese surname. It is commonly

transliterated Transliteration is a type of conversion of a text from one script to another that involves swapping letters (thus ''trans-'' + '' liter-'') in predictable ways, such as Greek → , Cyrillic → , Greek → the digraph , Armenian → or L ...

as Mak in

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delta i ...

, based on the

Cantonese Cantonese ( zh, t=廣東話, s=广东话, first=t, cy=Gwóngdūng wá) is a language within the Chinese (Sinitic) branch of the Sino-Tibetan languages originating from the city of Guangzhou (historically known as Canton) and its surrounding ar ...

pronunciation, though other transliterations exist. "麥" is the standard character in both Traditional and Simplified scripts but 麦 is also a variant seen in a both. The meaning of the Chinese character is either

wheat Wheat is a grass widely cultivated for its seed, a cereal grain that is a worldwide staple food. The many species of wheat together make up the genus ''Triticum'' ; the most widely grown is common wheat (''T. aestivum''). The archaeologi ...

barley Barley (''Hordeum vulgare''), a member of the grass family, is a major cereal grain grown in temperate climates globally. It was one of the first cultivated grains, particularly in Eurasia as early as 10,000 years ago. Globally 70% of barley p ...

. According to a 2013 study, 麦 was the 200th most common surname, shared by 550,000 people or 0.041% of the population, with

Guangdong Guangdong (, ), alternatively romanized as Canton or Kwangtung, is a coastal province in South China on the north shore of the South China Sea. The capital of the province is Guangzhou. With a population of 126.01 million (as of 2020) ...

being the province with the most.

Notable people

* Alan Mak, Hong Kong director * Alan Mak, British politician * Alice Mak, the

Secretary for Home and Youth Affairs The Secretary for Home and Youth Affairs is the head of the Home and Youth Affairs Bureau of the Government of Hong Kong, which is responsible for local issues, and the provision of community and youth services. List of office holders Registr ...

* Alice Mak, Chinese cartoonist and creator of ''McMug''/''McDull'' *

Juno Mak Juno Mak (; born 18 March 1984) is a Hong Kong singer, record producer, actor, and director. He made his musical debut in 2002 with the EP ''On the Road.'' His albums have won Best Record three times at the Ultimate Song Chart Awards Presentat ...

, Hong Kong singer *

Karl Maka Karl Maka (born 29 February 1944) is a Hong Kong film producer, director, actor and presenter. Early life On 29 February 1944, Maka was born as Mak Kar-sheung in Taishan, China. In 1958, at age 14, Maka moved to Hong Kong. Education In 196 ...

, (Chinese: 麥嘉) Hong Kong film producer, director, actor, and presenter. *

Bow-sim Mark Bow-sim Mark (born 1942) is a Chinese martial arts grandmaster who lives in Newton, Massachusetts, US. She is the mother of martial arts film star, Donnie Yen. Training Mark was born in Guangzhou, Republic of China (1912–1949), Republic of Ch ...

, (Chinese: 麥寶嬋) martial arts grandmaster, credited with popularizing the term “Wushu” outside of China, mother of martial arts film star Donnie Yen. * Teresa Mak, Hong Kong actress, known for the role of Fang Yi ( 方怡) in '' The Duke of Mount Deer'' * Dennis Mak, Hong Kong singer *

Tak Wah Mak Tak Wah Mak, (; born October 4, 1946, in China) is a Canadian medical researcher, geneticist, oncologist, and biochemist. He first became widely known for his discovery of the T-cell receptor in 1983 and pioneering work in the genetics of immun ...

, Chinese Canadian award-winning researcher known for discovery of the T-cell receptor * Evergreen Mak Cheung-ching, Hong Kong

TVB Television Broadcasts Limited (TVB) is a television broadcasting company based in Hong Kong SAR. The Company operates five free-to-air terrestrial television channels in Hong Kong, with TVB Jade as its main Cantonese language service, and ...

actor * Mai Yinghao (born Panyu District, Guangdong), Chinese archaeologist * Prince Mak, singer *

Mak Chai-kwong Mak Chai-kwong GBS, JP (, born 16 June 1950) is a Hong Kong civil engineer and civil servant. He served as Permanent Secretary for Development (Works) from 2006 to 2010. In 2012, he was appointed as Secretary for Development in the inaugural cab ...

, Former

Secretary for Development The Secretary for Development of the Hong Kong Government is responsible for planning, land development and public works related development policy in Hong Kong. The position was created in 2007 to replace portions of the previous portfolios ...

Notable people

See also