Wah surname, Chinese in Toronto, Canada

[minkey]

Hello. I am having trouble researching a surname that was listed as "Wah" on a Canadian marriage certificate.

The marriage was my great grandmother's sister, Isabella Whelan, and she married Charlie Wah in 1913 in Toronto. He was 29, so he would have been born around 1884. His mother's name is listed as "Good" and his father's name is listed as "Ingchong Wah Wah" or maybe "Ing Chong Wah Wah".

I have no idea as to which province or region they came from, it just says for place of birth "China".

Any help or ideas would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you!!!

Jennifer

[laohuaqiao]

The surname could be 華 Mandarin pinyin is "Hua" and in Cantonese it's "Wah".

It's not very common surname. Hua Guofeng (Mao Tsetung's successor), Hua Luogeng (well-known mathematician), and Hua Tuo ( a famous medical doctor in Chinese history) are some of the famous names with that surname. Since Wah is the Cantonese pronunciation and most early Chinese immigrants to North America came from Guangdong province, Guangdong is a good place to start.

[laohuaqiao]

There is also a possibility that his father's surname was actually Ing, a variation of Ng which is a more common translation for Cantonese 伍 (perhaps also for 吳 ?). Chong Wah (and another Wah?) was his given name. Since Chinese names are written with surnames first and then followed by given names, in the name Ing Chong Wah, Wah became the surname according to Canadian government.

Ing or Ng 伍 is a more common surname than Wah 華 . Whereas Wah 華 is a very common male given name.