Ni (倪)
A Taiwanese surname.
倪 Ni
- Zhuyin
- ㄋㄧˊ
- Pinyin
- ní
- Wade-Giles
- Ni
- Taiwanese Hokkien (Tâi-lô)
- Gê
- Hakka (Sixian)
- nga¹¹
- Rank in Taiwan
- 100th most common surname, roughly 0.06% of the population (2023 Ministry of the Interior figures)
What the character means
In classical texts it means 'small, weak' and 'child'; it also means 'boundary, clue' (as in 端倪).
Where the surname comes from
Tradition traces it to the small state of Ni (郳) in present-day Shandong, granted to a son of Duke Wu of Zhu (邾); once it fell, descendants wrote the name 兒 and later 倪. Hall name (堂號): 千乘堂.
Saying it 我姓倪 — wǒ xìng ní (ㄨㄛˇ ㄒㄧㄥˋ ㄋㄧˊ), "my family name is 倪"
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).