# Pei (surname)

Source: https://namelineage.com/surname/pei/  
Publisher: Name Lineage. Counts from the US Census Bureau; origin and etymology from Wiktionary; bearers from Wikidata. Data updated 2026-11-11.

A surname.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Origin | Chinese |
| Type | not recorded |
| People in the US (2010 Census) | 1,183 |
| US rank (2010) | 21,940 of 162,253 |
| How often | about 1 in every 260,985 people |
| Change since 2000 | +63% (724 in 2000) |
| Pronunciation | not recorded |
| Variant spellings | none recorded |

## Etymology

Borrowed from Mandarin 裴 (Péi) or 貝／贝 (Bèi) (Wade–Giles romanisation: Pei⁴).

## Who carries it

Share of people named Pei in the 2010 US Census by the Census's own race and ethnicity groups. The Census suppresses a share when the count behind it is small.

| Group | Share |
|---|---|
| White (not Hispanic) | 3.2% |
| Asian and Pacific Islander | 93% |
| American Indian and Alaska Native | 0.0% |
| Two or more races | 3.7% |

## Where

Wikidata records people named Pei in the Kingdom of Italy and Vietnam.

## People named Pei

- Mario Pei, American linguist and philologist (1901-1978)
- Bui Thi Xuan, 18th century Vietnamese female general during the Tây Sơn Rebellion

## Similar surnames

Pew, Pea, Poe, Powe, Pye, Peay, Phu, Paw, Pai, Pfau, Pu, Pho.

## How to read these numbers

A Census count is people alive and counted in 2010, not births, and names occurring fewer than 100 times are not published at all. Ethnicity shares are the Census's own categories.