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Name Lineage

    The surname Mei

    A Chinese surname, carried by 7,867 people in the United States.

    Pronounced /meɪ/ 1 syllable Soundex M000 Also a first name

    Mei: #4,510 of 162,253 surnames in the 2010 US Census #1Smith#160,975Doriott#10Martinez#100Jimenez#1,000Archer Mei #4,510, 7,867 people Mei: #4,510 of 162,253 surnames in the 2010 US Census #1Smith#160,975Doriott#100Jimenez Mei #4,510, 7,867 people
    Every surname held by 100 or more people in the 2010 US Census, most common on the left (162,253 in all). Mei is more common than 97.2% of them.

    Origin

    Chinese origin

    From Mandarin 美 (měi, “beautiful”), a common Chinese given name among women.

    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 7,867 people named Mei in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 39,246 Americans. That is up 64% since 2000, when the Census counted 4,794.

    #4,510
    rank among US surnames
    7,867
    people in 2010
    2.7
    per 100,000 Americans
    +64.1%
    change since 2000 (was #6,526)
    RankSurnamePeople1 in
    #4,501Gunther7,88239,171
    #4,502Ethridge7,87839,191
    #4,503Arriola7,87739,196
    #4,504Heilman7,87639,201
    #4,505Prentice7,87439,211
    #4,506Swearingen7,87239,221
    #4,507Guess7,87139,226

    Who is named Mei

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

    92% of people named Mei identified as Asian and Pacific Islander, 6.4% as white (not Hispanic).

    • Asian and Pacific Islander 92%
    • White (not Hispanic) 6.4%
    • Hispanic or Latino (any race) 1.0%
    • Two or more races 0.6%
    The Census suppresses very small shares to protect privacy; Black, Native American are not shown.

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

    Famous Meis

    1 notable person on Wikidata, most written-about first

    • Mai Tai Sing
      Actor (1923-2018)

    Spellings and sound-alikes

    Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling

    Surnames that sound like Mei

    Mei 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 Mei come from?
    From Mandarin 美 (měi, “beautiful”), a common Chinese given name among women.
    How common is the surname Mei?
    7,867 people in the United States had the surname Mei in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 39,246 Americans. It ranked 4,510th of 162,253 surnames.
    What ethnicity is the surname Mei?
    In the 2010 Census, 92% of people named Mei identified as Asian and Pacific Islander, and 6.4% as white (not Hispanic).
    Who is the most famous person named Mei?
    Mai Tai Sing, actor (1923-2018).
    Where is the surname Mei most common?
    Wikidata records people named Mei in the United States.
    How do you pronounce Mei?
    Mei is /meɪ/, one syllable.
    Is the surname Mei getting more or less common?
    More common. 4,794 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 7,867 in 2010, up 64%.
    Is Mei also a first name?
    Yes. Mei 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.