Quek is a Chinese, English, and German surname.

Origins

The

English surname English names are names used in, or originating in, England. In England as elsewhere in the English-speaking world, a complete name usually consists of a given name, commonly referred to as a first name, and a (most commonly patrilineal) famil ...

Quek is an alternative spelling of

Quick Quick, as an adjective, refers to something moving with high speed. Quick may also refer to: In business * Quick (restaurant), a Belgian fast-food restaurant chain * Quick (sportswear), a Dutch manufacturer of sportswear * Quick (automobile), ...

, which originated from

Middle English Middle English (abbreviated to ME) is a form of the English language that was spoken after the Norman conquest of 1066, until the late 15th century. The English language underwent distinct variations and developments following the Old English ...

and earlier Old English , both meaning 'lively' or 'nimble'. Quex and Quekes,

toponymic surname A toponymic surname or topographic surname is a surname derived from a place name.

s referring to Quex in

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

, are derived from ''Quek'' plus the

English possessive In English, possessive words or phrases exist for nouns and most pronouns, as well as some noun phrases. These can play the roles of determiners (also called possessive adjectives when corresponding to a pronoun) or of nouns. For nouns, noun ph ...

marker ''s''. As a

Chinese surname Chinese surnames are used by Han Chinese and Sinicized ethnic groups in China, Taiwan, Korea, Vietnam, and among overseas Chinese communities around the world such as Singapore and Malaysia. Written Chinese names begin with surnames, unlike th ...

, Quek is found in

Southeast Asia Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, south-eastern region of Asia, consistin ...

among Overseas Chinese communities in Malaysia and in Singapore as an approximation of

Southern Min Southern Min (), Minnan (Mandarin pronunciation: ) or Banlam (), is a group of linguistically similar and historically related Sinitic languages that form a branch of Min Chinese spoken in Fujian (especially the Minnan region), most of Taiwan ...

pronunciations of the surname whose

Standard Mandarin Standard Chinese ()—in linguistics Standard Northern Mandarin or Standard Beijing Mandarin, in common speech simply Mandarin, better qualified as Standard Mandarin, Modern Standard Mandarin or Standard Mandarin Chinese—is a modern standa ...

pronunciation is spelled in

Hanyu Pinyin Hanyu Pinyin (), often shortened to just pinyin, is the official romanization system for Standard Mandarin Chinese in China, and to some extent, in Singapore and Malaysia. It is often used to teach Mandarin, normally written in Chinese for ...

as Guō (). Other Southern Min-derived spellings of the same surname include Kek, Kerk, Kuek, Kweh, and Kwek. The

German surname Personal names in German-speaking Europe consist of one or several given names (''Vorname'', plural ''Vornamen'') and a surname (''Nachname, Familienname''). The ''Vorname'' is usually gender-specific. A name is usually cited in the " Western or ...

Quek is a variant spelling of Queck, which is usually derived from

Middle High German Middle High German (MHG; german: Mittelhochdeutsch (Mhd.)) is the term for the form of German spoken in the High Middle Ages. It is conventionally dated between 1050 and 1350, developing from Old High German and into Early New High German. High ...

Middle Low German Middle Low German or Middle Saxon (autonym: ''Sassisch'', i.e. "Saxon", Standard High German: ', Modern Dutch: ') is a developmental stage of Low German. It developed from the Old Saxon language in the Middle Ages and has been documented in ...

'lively'. In some cases it may have originated as an

occupational surname In some cultures, a surname, family name, or last name is the portion of one's personal name that indicates one's family, tribe or community. Practices vary by culture. The family name may be placed at either the start of a person's full name, ...

for a farmer or a cattle dealer, from 'living animal'. Despite the similarity in spelling, based on the geographic distribution of the surname within Germany, it is generally believed to be unrelated to the placename in

Hesse Hesse (, , ) or Hessia (, ; german: Hessen ), officially the State of Hessen (german: links=no, Land Hessen), is a state in Germany. Its capital city is Wiesbaden, and the largest urban area is Frankfurt. Two other major historic cities are Da ...

Statistics

The 2010 United States Census found 167 people with the surname Quek, making it the 105,6700th-most-common name in the country. This represented an increase from 127 people (124,872nd-most-common) in the 2000 Census. In both censuses, about five percent of the bearers of the surname identified as

non-Hispanic white Non-Hispanic whites or Non-Latino whites are Americans who are classified as "white", and are not of Hispanic (also known as "Latino") heritage. The United States Census Bureau defines ''white'' to include European Americans, Middle Eastern Am ...

, and about nine-tenths as non-Hispanic

Asian or Pacific Islander Asian/Pacific American (APA) or Asian/Pacific Islander (API) or Asian American and Pacific Islanders (AAPI) or Asian American and Native Hawaiians/Pacific Islander (AANHPI) is a term sometimes used in the United States when including both Asian a ...

People

*Quek Kee Siong (; – after 1980), Singaporean man executed for the murder of Cheng Geok Ha *

Quek Leng Chan Tan Sri Quek Leng Chan (; born 8 December 1941) is a Malaysian tycoon who co-founded Hong Leong Group Malaysia. In 2018, Quek Leng Chan ranked #217 on the ''Forbes'' World's Billionaires list, with wealth listed at US$7.2 billion. As for 16 Fe ...

(; born 1941), Malaysian businessman * Quek Swee Hwa (; born 1941), Singaporean pastor *

Quek Loo Ming On 31 December 2001, while volunteering at an end-of-year event, 56-year-old Quek Loo Ming (郭禄明 Guō Lùmíng), a retired laboratory officer, spiked a bottle of water with methomyl and offered it to the chairperson of a resident's committee ...

(; born 1945), Singaporean former laboratory officer and convicted killer *

Deborah Evans-Quek Deborah Evans-Quek (née Evans, formerly Cooper, born 21 July 1961) is a Welsh chess player, five-times Welsh Women's Chess Championship winner (1977, 1979, 1991, 2000, 2003), Chess Olympiad individual silver medal winner ( 1986). Biography F ...

(born 1961), Welsh chess player *

Justin Quek Justin Quek (郭文秀, pinyin: Guō Wénxìu; born on 30 March 1962 in Singapore) is a Singaporean chef based in Singapore. His specialty is in Franco-Asian cuisine. He is Singapore's most internationally known chef and the first Asian chef invite ...

(; born 1962), Singaporean chef *

Phyllis Quek Phyllis Quek (; born 23 August 1972) is a Malaysian model, actress, and singer. She was prominently a full-time Mediacorp artist from 1995 to 2001, and was ranked by local media as the 'Fourth Ah Jie' for being the fourth most prominent actre ...

(; born 1972), Malaysian model *Grace Quek (; born ), Singaporean pornographic actress who used the stage name

Annabel Chong Grace Quek (), known professionally as Annabel Chong, is a Singaporean former pornographic actress who became famous after starring in an adult film that was promoted as '' The World's Biggest Gang Bang''. The film was commercially successful a ...

Jill Quek Jill Quek (born 30 August 1978) is a Singaporean former floorball player who played as a forward for the Singapore women's national team and is now a floorball coach. She is the first Asian to be inducted to the International Floorball Federation ...

(born 1978), Singaporean footballer *

Quek See Ling Quek See Ling (; born in October 1986 in Johor Bahru, Johor, Malaysia) is a Singaporean poet, writer, Chinese ink painter, independent publisher, editor, instructor of Chinese creative writing. Education After graduating from Foon Yew Primar ...

(; born 1986), Singaporean writer *

Sam Quek Samantha Ann Quek, MBE (born 18 October 1988) is an English former field hockey player, and television personality. She played as a defender for both the England and Great Britain teams, wearing squad number 13, and won gold as part of the Brit ...

(born 1988), English field hockey player *

Calvin Quek Jun Jie Calvin Quek is a Singapore sprinter who specialises in the 400m and 400m hurdles. As a schoolboy, Quek was a perennial medallist at National Schools in both events. He first broke the 400m hurdles national record in February 2022 with a t ...

(born 1996), Singaporean sprinter

References

{{reflist English-language surnames German-language surnames Hokkien-language surnames