How common is the surname Chai?

3,619 people in the United States had the surname Chai in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 85,312 Americans. It ranked 9,030th of 162,253 surnames.

Is the surname Chai getting more or less common?

More common. 2,615 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 3,619 in 2010, up 38%.

The surname Chai

A Chinese surname, carried by 3,619 people in the United States.

1 syllable Soundex C000

Every surname held by 100 or more people in the 2010 US Census, most common on the left (162,253 in all). Chai is more common than 94.4% of them.

Origin

Chinese origin

Borrowed from Mandarin 柴 (Chái), Mandarin 翟 (Zhái), Hakka 蔡 (Chhai), etc.

One of 193 Chinese surnames on this site.

Origin from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0).

How common it is

2010 US Census

There were 3,619 people named Chai in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 85,312 Americans. That is up 38% since 2000, when the Census counted 2,615.

#9,030

rank among US surnames

3,619

people in 2010

1.2

per 100,000 Americans

+38.4%

change since 2000 (was #11,132)

Rank	Surname	People	1 in
#9,026	Batt	3,622	85,242
#9,027	Baptista	3,621	85,265
#9,029	Barthel	3,620	85,289
#9,030	Chai	3,619	85,312
#9,033	Skeens	3,617	85,360

Who is named Chai

Race and Hispanic origin as people reported it in the 2010 Census

83% of people named Chai identified as Asian and Pacific Islander, 6.9% as two or more races and 4.9% as white (not Hispanic).

Asian and Pacific Islander 83%
Two or more races 6.9%
White (not Hispanic) 4.9%
Hispanic or Latino (any race) 3.9%
Black (not Hispanic) 1.1%

Compare: most common surnames among Asian and Pacific Islander Americans.

Spellings and sound-alikes

Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling

Surnames that sound like Chai

Chai has the Soundex code C000, the code US census indexes have used since the 1930s. Every surname with code C000.

Other Chinese surnames

All 193 Chinese surnames

Questions

Where does the surname Chai come from?: Borrowed from Mandarin 柴 (Chái), Mandarin 翟 (Zhái), Hakka 蔡 (Chhai), etc.
How common is the surname Chai?: 3,619 people in the United States had the surname Chai in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 85,312 Americans. It ranked 9,030th of 162,253 surnames.
What ethnicity is the surname Chai?: In the 2010 Census, 83% of people named Chai identified as Asian and Pacific Islander, and 6.9% as two or more races.
Is the surname Chai getting more or less common?: More common. 2,615 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 3,619 in 2010, up 38%.