Lai (surname)

Lai is a common Chinese surname that is pronounced similarly in both Mandarin and Hakka dialects. The meaning of the character used in the Lai (賴) surname is "depend on; trust in; rely on". Conversely the words, 無賴 literally translated to "without Lai" which means "undependable, rascal or scoundrel".

It is also a Hokkien (Southern Fujian)/ Minnan (Southern Min) surname that is romanized as Lua, Nai or Nua. In Malaysia, Singapore, Philippines and other parts of Southeast Asia there are Lai migrants from southern Fujian Province who are usually surnamed Lua/ Luah, Loa (romanized from Hokkien / Minnan in Southern Min dialect) or Lye (romanized from Hakka dialect) for the Hakka dialect groups. In Sri Lanka, Lye is a common surname among Sri Lankan Malays of Peranakan Chinese descent.

In Indonesia, most of the Indonesians of Chinese descent changed their surname to an Indonesian surname to comply with 'Cabinet Presidium Decision 127 of 1966' laws during President Suharto's despotic rule. However, they usually change to surnames with the same sound or a surname which contains a part of the original surname, hence the Indonesian Lai surname has evolved into Laya, Lais, or Lasuki.

Origins
The Lais' ancestry were from the State of Lai (賴國) at the beginning of the ancient Zhou Dynasty (1046 BC). The area is now around Huangchuan County, Henan province.

Marquis Shu Ying (叔 穎 公) was the 19th son of King Wen of Zhou (widely considered to be the founder of the ancient Zhou Dynasty). He was conferred the heritable title of Hou (侯) or Marquis to rule over a territory which is approximately in the northeast of the present day Baoxin town (包信鎮) in Xi Xian (息縣) of Henan province. This was the reward from King Wu of Zhou, his elder brother (the first King of Zhou Dynasty, reign 1046–1043 BC ) for his assistance in defeating King Zhou of Shang and thereby terminating the ancient Shang dynasty. Marquis Shu Ying named his domain the State of Lai (賴國).

Marquis Shu Ying and his succeeding descendants continued to rule the State of Lai well until the year 538 B.C for a total of 14 generations when it was conquered by King Ling of Chu (reign 540–529 BC). The last ruler was Marquis Tian (赖添公).

Many Lais were dispersed to the south during their defeat by the Chu state; some changed their surname to escape persecution. As in the case of those who fled to the neighboring states of Luo (羅) and Fu (傅), some adopted the Luo (or Loh) or Fu (or Poh, Po) surname. (Because of this, the Lai, the Fu and the Luo are closely related).

Others migrated north and settled in Da Yan (Yanling County, Henan). Most of them adopted the surname Lai (賴) to commemorate their old state.

Statistics
The largest Lai (賴) clans are in China, Taiwan, Malaysia, Singapore and Philippines. Majority of the overseas Lai (賴) clans are of the Hakka people followed by the Hokkien/Minnan people.

According to 2010 data, people with surname Lai (賴) ranked 98th most populous in China. The total Lai (賴) population is approximately 0.18% or around 2.4 million people out of China's population of 1.338 billion in 2010. In Taiwan, the surname Lai (賴) is ranked 19th most populous in 2007.

Politicians and public officeholders

 * Lai In-jaw, President of the Judicial Yuan and Chief Justice of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of China (2007–2010)
 * Lai Ruoyu, Governor of Shanxi province, China from 1951 to 1952
 * Lai Shin-yuan, Minister of Mainland Affairs Council of the Republic of China (2008–2012)
 * Loa Sek Hie, Indonesian-Chinese colonial politician, parliamentarian and founding Voorzitter or chairman of the Indon ethnic-Chinese self-defense force Pao An Tui (1946–1949)
 * Rai Hau-min, President of Judicial Yuan of the Republic of China (2010–2016)
 * William Lai, Vice President of the Republic of China
 * Lai Siu Chiu (賴秀珠) : First woman to serve as a Judicial Commissioner and as a judge on the Supreme Court of Singapore.
 * Lai Minhua, Former Commissioner of Macau Customs
 * Lai Feng-wei, Magistrate-elect of Penghu County

Military

 * Lai Wenguang (賴文光) : prominent military leader of the Taiping Rebellion and Nian Rebellion. Brother-in-law of Hong Xiuquan, the leader of the Taiping Rebellion.
 * Lai Enjue (赖恩爵): Qing dynasty General and Admiral of the Guangdong Navy. Fought the British in the Battle of Kowloon during the First Opium War of 1839. Appointed as the Admiral (水师提督) of the Guangdong Navy in 1843.
 * Lai Chuanzhu (赖传珠): Highly decorated Veteran of the Second Sino-Japanese War (1936–1945) and the Chinese Civil War. He was also the General in charge of Landing Operation on Hainan Island together with General Deng Hua.
 * Lai Ming Tang 賴名湯 : Chief of the General Staff (Republic of China) 1970-1976.

Academics, Literary and Arts

 * Loa Ho (賴和) (1894–1943): Taiwanese poet, medical doctor and anti-Japanese Occupation political activist, hailed as the "Father of Modern Taiwanese Literature"
 * Michael M. C. Lai (賴明詔) : Taiwanese virologist, acknowledged as "father of coronavirus research"
 * Robert Lai (賴義雄) : Ballistic missile and nuclear submarine research.
 * Jessica Lai, New Zealand professor of law
 * Lai Kui Fang (賴桂芳) : Malaysian born artist who worked in France. Winner of 1st Gold medallist from "Salon des Artistes Francais", Conferred the Knight of the French Order of Arts & Letters and was preferred to Officer of Arts (the highest honour bestowed by the French government to distinguished masters of the arts).
 * Pinky Lai (賴平): Automobile designer and chief designer with Porsche AG.

Entertainment and sports

 * Lai Caiqin (赖彩勤, born 1966), Chinese badminton player. Gold medalist - World Cup (1990, women doubles), Uber Cup (1990, women team) and Asian Games (1990, women team)
 * Lai Xiaoxiao, (赖晓晓) Chinese Wushu Gold medal winner in World Traditional Championships, World Championships, World Games, World Cup and Asian Games.
 * Shevon Jemie Lai, (赖洁敏). Malaysian professional badminton player, Gold medalist : Mixed Team Event - World Junior Championships (2011) and Asia Junior Championships (2009)
 * Lai Pei Jing, (赖沛君) Malaysian professional badminton player, Gold medalist : Mixed team event - Glasgow Commonwealth Games (2014) and Asian Junior Championships (2009)
 * Lai Yawen, (赖亚文) : Volleyball - in the team that won Silver medals in Olympic, World Championships and World Cup (FIVB). Gold medals in the Asian Games and Asian Women's Volleyball Championship.
 * Lai Runming, (赖润明) : Chinese weightlifter, 1984 Olympic Games silver medalist in Men's 56kg
 * Stan Lai: Taiwanese playwright and theater director
 * Lai Pi-hsia (賴碧霞) : Famous musician known for performing Hakka hill songs
 * Lai Kuan-lin: Republic of China singer and actor, former member of disbanded group WANNA ONE
 * Lai Meiyun: Chinese singer, S.I.N.G and Rocket Girls 101 member
 * Lai Pin-yu: Taiwanese cosplayer

Other fields

 * David Jung-Hsin Lai (賴榮信): Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Taiwan
 * Lai Afong (赖阿芳): considered to be the most significant Chinese photographer of the nineteenth century
 * Lai Ning (赖宁): teenager celebrated as a martyr after his death fighting a wildfire in China

As a European surname

 * Ubaldo Lay (1917-1984): Italian actor (born as Ubaldo Bussa, chose his mother's surname for his stagename), notorious for playing the main character of Tenente Sheridan ("Lieutenant Sheridan") in the television series "Giallo Club. Invito al Poliziesco"
 * Francis Lai (1932–2018): French composer of Sardinian descent (Ozieri), Academy and Golden Globe Award winner
 * Valentino Lai (born 1984): Italian-Swedish football player from Cagliari