Thought I should do some research on my family name -

back to the roots of the willow..

柳 (Liew)

Ranked 142 in the list of the top 200

most common Chinese family names in 1990

and is about 2600 years old..

During the Spring and Autumn Period (722BC to 481BC), Xiao Gong became the ruler of the State of Lu. He had a great-grandson called Zhan Qin who was an officer in charge of a prison built in a place where many willow trees grew. Zhan Qin was a very honest and well-behaved man. There is an idiomatic phrase to describe him -zuo huai bu luan, which means not succumbing to the temptations of the flesh. To accord him respect, people addressed him as Liu Xia (under the willow) which he adopted as his family name. After his death, his children shortened their family name to just Liu and left off the word Xia (under).