Chia (surname)

Chia is a surname. It is a Latin-alphabet spelling of various Chinese surnames, as well as an Italian surname.

Statistics
Chia was the 20th-most common Chinese surname in Singapore as of 1997 (ranked by English spelling, rather than by Chinese characters). Roughly 22,600 people, or 0.9% of the Chinese Singaporean population at the time, bore the surname Chia. Among respondents to the 2000 United States Census, Chia was the 856th-most common surname among Asian Pacific Americans, and 17,530th-most common overall, with 1,481 bearers (72.78% of whom identified as Asian/Pacific Islander). In Italy, 72 families bore the surname Chia, with more than half located in Sardinia.

Origins
Chia may be a spelling of a number of Chinese surnames, based on different varieties of Chinese, listed below by their romanisation in Mandarin pinyin:


 * Jia (various characters and tones), all spelled Chia in the Wade–Giles romanisation of Mandarin used before the development of pinyin, and still widespread in Taiwan.
 * Jiā (IPA: /t͡ɕia⁵⁵/)
 * Jiá (IPA: /t͡ɕia³⁵/), which originated as a toponymic surname.
 * Jiǎ (IPA: /t͡ɕia²¹⁴/), which also originated as a toponymic surname referring to the State of Jia, one of the ancient Chinese states, a feudal territory granted to a son of Shu Yu of Tang, located in modern-day Linfen, Shanxi.
 * Jiǎ (IPA: /t͡ɕia²¹⁴/), which originated as a shortening of an ancient toponymic surname Jiǎfù (甲父).
 * Xiè, spelled Chia based on its pronunciation in various Southern Min dialects, including:
 * Hokkien (Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Chiā; IPA: /t͡ɕia³³/)
 * Teochew (Peng'im: Zia7; IPA: /t͡sia¹¹/)
 * Chē, spelled Chia based on its pronunciation in various Southern Min dialects, including:
 * Hokkien (POJ: Chhia, IPA: /t͡ɕʰia⁴⁴/)
 * Teochew (Peng'im: Cia1; IPA: /t͡sʰia³³/)

It is also an Italian toponymic surname referring to Chia, Province of South Sardinia. That toponym may have originated from a Phoenician word for "valley".

Chinese surname 谢

 * Chia Boon Leong (谢文龙; 1925–2022), Singaporean footballer
 * Eric Chia (谢英福; 1930s–2008), Malaysian businessman
 * Nicholas Chia (谢益裕; born 1938), third Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore
 * Chia Thye Poh (谢太宝; born 1941), Singaporean political activist imprisoned for 23 years without charge or trial
 * Mantak Chia (謝明德; born 1944), Thai Taoist master
 * Yvonne Chia (谢姚依雯; born c. 1953), Malaysian banker
 * Chia Yong Yong (谢邕邕; born 1962), Singaporean lawyer and politician
 * Steve Chia (谢镜丰; born 1970), Singaporean politician
 * Danny Chia (谢志荣; born 1972), Malaysian golfer
 * Michelle Chia (谢韵仪; born 1975), Singaporean actress
 * Elvin Chia (谢俊道; born 1977), Malaysian swimmer
 * Amber Chia (谢丽萍; born 1981), Malaysian model and actress
 * Wen Shin Chia (谢雯欣; born c. 1991), Malaysian environmentalist
 * Kimberly Chia (谢静仪; born 1995), Singaporean actress
 * Aaron Chia (谢定峰; born 1997), Malaysian badminton player
 * Nelson Chia (谢燊杰), Singaporean television actor and director

Chinese surname 賈

 * Chia Ching-teh (賈景德; 1880–1960), Republic of China politician
 * Chia Lien-chen (賈連仁; 1912–?), Chinese middle-distance runner
 * Pei-yuan Chia (賈培源; born 1939), Hong Kong-born American banker
 * Alyssa Chia (賈靜雯; born 1974), Taiwanese actress
 * Chih-Ta Chia (賈至達), Taiwanese physicist
 * Wenlan Chia (賈雯蘭), Taipei-born American fashion designer

Other or unknown
People with a non-Chinese surname Chia, or whose names as written in Chinese characters are not available:
 * Chia Chungchang (fl. 1948), Chinese basketball player
 * Víctor Li-Carrillo Chía (1929–1988), Peruvian philosopher
 * Cheng Sait Chia (1940–1981), Singaporean-born Canadian poet
 * Sandro Chia (born 1946), Italian painter and sculptor
 * Beatrice Chia (born 1974), Singaporean actress
 * Gec Chia (born 1979), Filipino businessman and former basketball player
 * Daphne Chia (born 1996), Singaporean gymnast
 * Luis Carlos Chía (born 1997), Colombian cyclist
 * Grace Chia, Singaporean writer