Ah-Hoa? / Lemaveve Missing family links

[julia]

I'm trying to find the Chinese heritage in our bloodline, but have massive roadblocks. The info I have so far;
My Grandfathers name is Puipa'a Manufui Ma'a. He was raised by his Grandparents. His Grandfathers name is Ma'a Lemaveve (1891-1961). They lived in Puipa'a village in Samoa. Grandpa knows that his father was from china. My 1st cousin had done his DNA testing and found that he have 20% chinese and vietnamese, and phillipine blood. From what our Grandfather says, We know that He had other kids, with another woman, after our grandpa and the closest thing to his name is ah-hoa. But we do not know for sure if it was Ah-Hoa or something as grandpa was only young when his father left him.
I'm needing advice on where and how to research. Any clues, hints or information regarding these names would also be amazing!!

Thanks

Julia.

[Doug 周]

Start your family history with what you know best: your family interview. You will need to know your Chinese surname to trace back your genealogy. Generally Chinese DNA testing is limited by the small Chinese sample size and by the intermixing of the autosomes which empowers natural selection by the variability. Is your Chinese surname Ma 馬 ? Only your elders can confirm that.

There are two coordinates to fix your Chinese bloodline: the full name in Chinese characters of your ancestors born in China, and the ancestral village. You MUST use Chinese characters. Samoan-English phonetic spelling will not help.

After you interview as many relatives (and you will interview the same individual many times to help refresh their memory) look at the family heirlooms for Chinese characters written along the edge of pictures or on souvenirs from your ancestors. Check travel documents and ship manifests for possible Chinese characters.

You grandfather’s name Ah-Hoa contains the Cantonese evocative vocative‘Ah’ added to a given name. Ah is not a given name. At least you can deduce that he is from Guangdong province.

Having died in 1961, it is common practice for the gravestone will have his Chinese name and ancestral village engraved. Post a photo and Chinese literate members can help you translate.

[faatamalii]

Oct 30, 2018 16:06:33 GMT -5 julia said:

I'm trying to find the Chinese heritage in our bloodline, but have massive roadblocks. The info I have so far;
My Grandfathers name is Puipa'a Manufui Ma'a. He was raised by his Grandparents. His Grandfathers name is Ma'a Lemaveve (1891-1961). They lived in Puipa'a village in Samoa. Grandpa knows that his father was from china. My 1st cousin had done his DNA testing and found that he have 20% chinese and vietnamese, and phillipine blood. From what our Grandfather says, We know that He had other kids, with another woman, after our grandpa and the closest thing to his name is ah-hoa. But we do not know for sure if it was Ah-Hoa or something as grandpa was only young when his father left him.
I'm needing advice on where and how to research. Any clues, hints or information regarding these names would also be amazing!!

Thanks

Julia.