How common is the surname Lai?

19,157 people in the United States had the surname Lai in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 16,117 Americans. It ranked 1,873rd of 162,253 surnames.

Who is the most famous person named Lai?

Francis Lai, Academy Award-winning French composer, followed by Shevon Jemie Lai.

Where is the surname Lai most common?

Wikidata records people named Lai in Malaysia and France.

Is the surname Lai getting more or less common?

More common. 15,490 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 19,157 in 2010, up 24%.

The surname Lai

A Chinese surname, carried by 19,157 people in the United States.

1 syllable Soundex L000

Every surname held by 100 or more people in the 2010 US Census, most common on the left (162,253 in all). Lai is more common than 98.8% of them.

Origin

Chinese origin

From Chinese 賴／赖 (lài) (Mandarin: lài, Cantonese: laai⁶, Hakka: lai).

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 19,157 people named Lai in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 16,117 Americans. That is up 24% since 2000, when the Census counted 15,490.

#1,873

rank among US surnames

19,157

people in 2010

6.5

per 100,000 Americans

+23.7%

change since 2000 (was #2,148)

Rank	Surname	People	1 in
#1,864	Hanley	19,240	16,047
#1,865	Arriaga	19,236	16,050
#1,866	Engle	19,226	16,059
#1,867	Story	19,218	16,065
#1,868	Valentin	19,211	16,071
#1,869	Yost	19,210	16,072
#1,870	Langford	19,208	16,074

Who is named Lai

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

92% of people named Lai identified as Asian and Pacific Islander, 3.5% as white (not Hispanic) and 3.2% as two or more races.

Asian and Pacific Islander 92%
White (not Hispanic) 3.5%
Two or more races 3.2%
Hispanic or Latino (any race) 1.2%
Black (not Hispanic) 0.3%
American Indian and Alaska Native 0.0%

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

Famous Lais

3 notable people on Wikidata, most written-about first

Francis Lai
Academy Award-winning French composer, 1932–2018
Shevon Jemie Lai
Badminton player, born 1993
Lai Pei Jing
Badminton player, born 1992

Notable Lais come mostly from Malaysia (2) and France (1).

Spellings and sound-alikes

Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling

Surnames that sound like Lai

Lai has the Soundex code L000, the code US census indexes have used since the 1930s. Every surname with code L000.

Other Chinese surnames

All 193 Chinese surnames

Questions

Where does the surname Lai come from?: From Chinese 賴／赖 (lài) (Mandarin: lài, Cantonese: laai⁶, Hakka: lai).
How common is the surname Lai?: 19,157 people in the United States had the surname Lai in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 16,117 Americans. It ranked 1,873rd of 162,253 surnames.
What ethnicity is the surname Lai?: In the 2010 Census, 92% of people named Lai identified as Asian and Pacific Islander, and 3.5% as white (not Hispanic).
Who is the most famous person named Lai?: Francis Lai, Academy Award-winning French composer, followed by Shevon Jemie Lai.
Where is the surname Lai most common?: Wikidata records people named Lai in Malaysia and France.
Is the surname Lai getting more or less common?: More common. 15,490 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 19,157 in 2010, up 24%.