Lai (賴)
A Taiwanese surname.
賴 Lai
- Zhuyin
- ㄌㄞˋ
- Pinyin
- lài
- Wade-Giles
- Lai
- Taiwanese Hokkien (Tâi-lô)
- Luā Luā is the colloquial (白讀) reading, while nāi is the character's literary (文讀) reading.
- Hakka (Sixian)
- lai⁵⁵
- Rank in Taiwan
- 19th most common surname, roughly 1.33% of the population (2023 Ministry of the Interior figures)
What the character means
'To rely on'; it also means 'to deny (a fault)', 'to linger' and 'to owe'.
Where the surname comes from
Tradition traces it to the state of Lai (賴), which King Ling of Chu conquered; its people then adopted Lai as their surname. Hall name (堂號): 頴川堂.
Saying it 我姓賴 — wǒ xìng lài (ㄨㄛˇ ㄒㄧㄥˋ ㄌㄞˋ), "my family name is 賴"
Sources: rank and share, 內政部 全國姓名統計分析 (Ministry of the Interior, National Name Statistics), data as of 2023-06-30. Taiwanese Hokkien readings, 教育部臺灣台語常用詞辭典 (MOE Dictionary of Frequently-Used Taiwanese Taigi), 百家姓 appendix. Hakka, 教育部臺灣客語辭典 (MOE Dictionary of Taiwan Hakka), 百家姓表, Sixian (四縣腔).