How common is the surname Mai?

17,445 people in the United States had the surname Mai in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 17,698 Americans. It ranked 2,075th of 162,253 surnames.

Who is the most famous person named Mai?

Dominic Mai Thanh Lương, Auxiliary bishop of Orange in California, followed by Jeannie Mai Jenkins.

Where is the surname Mai most common?

Wikidata records people named Mai in the United States.

Is the surname Mai getting more or less common?

More common. 12,027 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 17,445 in 2010, up 45%.

Is Mai also a first name?

Yes. Mai is used as a first name as well as a surname; its first-name page has the meaning and how many babies were given it.

The surname Mai

A Chinese surname, carried by 17,445 people in the United States.

1 syllable Soundex M000 Also a first name

Every surname held by 100 or more people in the 2010 US Census, most common on the left (162,253 in all). Mai is more common than 98.7% of them.

Origin

Chinese origin

Chinese surname with several origins: * from Mandarin 麥 /麦 (“wheat”), * from Mandarin and Cantonese 買 /买 (maai⁵, “buy”) * Cantonese form of 米 (see Mi). * Romanized from 马 (mǎ) (see Ma) * Romanized from 梅 (méi) (see Mei) As a German surname, variant of May.

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 17,445 people named Mai in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 17,698 Americans. That is up 45% since 2000, when the Census counted 12,027.

#2,075

rank among US surnames

17,445

people in 2010

5.9

per 100,000 Americans

+45%

change since 2000 (was #2,752)

Rank	Surname	People	1 in
#2,066	Hanks	17,498	17,645
#2,067	Neumann	17,484	17,659
#2,069	Ashby	17,482	17,661
#2,070	Vernon	17,480	17,663
#2,071	Crowell	17,467	17,676
#2,072	Blum	17,458	17,685
#2,073	Jeffers	17,455	17,688

Who is named Mai

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

85% of people named Mai identified as Asian and Pacific Islander, 11% as white (not Hispanic) and 1.4% as two or more races.

Asian and Pacific Islander 85%
White (not Hispanic) 11%
Two or more races 1.4%
Hispanic or Latino (any race) 1.1%
Black (not Hispanic) 0.6%
American Indian and Alaska Native 0.1%

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

Famous Mais

3 notable people on Wikidata, most written-about first

Dominic Mai Thanh Lương
Auxiliary bishop of Orange in California, 1940–2017
Jeannie Mai Jenkins
American television host and stylist, born 1979
Mai Tai Sing
Actor (1923-2018)

Spellings and sound-alikes

Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling

Surnames that sound like Mai

Mai has the Soundex code M000, the code US census indexes have used since the 1930s. Every surname with code M000.

Other Chinese surnames

All 193 Chinese surnames

Questions

Where does the surname Mai come from?: Chinese surname with several origins: * from Mandarin 麥 /麦 (“wheat”), * from Mandarin and Cantonese 買 /买 (maai⁵, “buy”) * Cantonese form of 米 (see Mi). * Romanized from 马 (mǎ) (see Ma) * Romanized from 梅 (méi) (see Mei) As a German surname, variant of May.
How common is the surname Mai?: 17,445 people in the United States had the surname Mai in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 17,698 Americans. It ranked 2,075th of 162,253 surnames.
What ethnicity is the surname Mai?: In the 2010 Census, 85% of people named Mai identified as Asian and Pacific Islander, and 11% as white (not Hispanic).
Who is the most famous person named Mai?: Dominic Mai Thanh Lương, Auxiliary bishop of Orange in California, followed by Jeannie Mai Jenkins.
Where is the surname Mai most common?: Wikidata records people named Mai in the United States.
Is the surname Mai getting more or less common?: More common. 12,027 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 17,445 in 2010, up 45%.
Is Mai also a first name?: Yes. Mai is used as a first name as well as a surname; its first-name page has the meaning and how many babies were given it.