Dahulu, orang Cina di negara ini menyedari bahawa perkataan "Macai" (馬仔) adalah pantang besar kepada orang Melayu. Ini kerana perkataan 'Ma' (馬) yang membawa maksud 'kuda', turut menjadi karekter yang digunakan dalam mengeja perkataan Melayu (Malai - 馬來) dan Malaysia (Malaixiya - (馬來西亞). Maka perkataan 'Ma' (馬) telah menjadi kependekan yang sinonim dengan Melayu atau Malaysia.
masa aku blajar kat U dulu lecturer aku penah cakap mostly nama Ma yg dipakai cina muslim di china menggunakan nama Ma
jadi google dan ni yg aku dpt
Ma (simplified Chinese: 马; traditional Chinese: 馬; pinyin: Mǎ) is one of the most common Chinese family names.
As of 2006, it ranks as the 14th most common Chinese surname in Mainland China and the most common surname within the Chinese Muslim community, specifically the Hui people, Dongxiang people, and Salar people.
However, this surname should not be identified with the Korean surname 'Ma' which has the same pronunciation with the Chinese 'Ma' but has its own distinct history.
This surname literally means "horse". The offspring of Zhao She adopted "Ma" (馬), the first word of the district Ma Fu, as their surname.
Variant spellings of "Ma" include Mah, Beh and Mar.
Hui Muslims, Salars, Bonan and Dongxiang people commonly adopted Ma as the translation for their surname Muhammad. for e.g. Ma Jian, Ma Benzhai, Ma clique.
During the Ming dynasty, the Emperor Zhengde had a Uyghur concubine with the surname Ma.
Ma Laichi established the Hua Si school (menhuan) - the core of the Khufiyya movement in Chinese Islam. The name of the movement - a Chinese form of the Arabic "Khafiyya", i.e. "the silent ones" - refers to its adherents' emphasis on silent dhikr (invocation of God's name).