Tsai
/tsaɪ/noun
A Chinese surname commonly representing the Mandarin surname Cai in older or non-Mandarin romanization.
Did you know?Tsai is a Wade–Giles-style spelling associated with Cai, the name of an ancient Chinese state whose ruling lineage later became a surname.
Etymological Timeline
Western Zhou period, c. 11th–8th century BCE
Old Chinese
蔡
“The name of the ancient state of Cai, traditionally associated with a ruling lineage descended from Cai Shu.”
Ancient Chinese
Old Chinese
蔡
“A hereditary clan or state name that came to function as a surname.”
Middle Chinese, c. 7th–10th century
Middle Chinese
蔡
“A surname pronounced approximately tsajH in historical reconstruction.”
19th–20th century
Wade–Giles
Ts’ai
“A romanized form of the Chinese surname 蔡; the apostrophe marked aspiration.”
Modern English
English
Tsai
“An established spelling of the Chinese surname Cai, especially in Taiwanese and overseas usage.”