How common is the surname Pei?

1,183 people in the United States had the surname Pei in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 260,985 Americans. It ranked 21,940th of 162,253 surnames.

Who is the most famous person named Pei?

Mario Pei, American linguist and philologist (1901-1978), followed by Bui Thi Xuan.

Where is the surname Pei most common?

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

Is the surname Pei getting more or less common?

More common. 724 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 1,183 in 2010, up 63%.

The surname Pei

A Chinese surname, carried by 1,183 people in the United States.

1 syllable Soundex P000

Every surname held by 100 or more people in the 2010 US Census, most common on the left (162,253 in all). Pei is more common than 86.5% of them.

Origin

Chinese origin

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

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 1,183 people named Pei in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 260,985 Americans. That is up 63% since 2000, when the Census counted 724.

#21,940

rank among US surnames

1,183

people in 2010

0.4

per 100,000 Americans

+63.4%

change since 2000 (was #30,443)

Who is named Pei

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

93% of people named Pei identified as Asian and Pacific Islander, 3.7% as two or more races and 3.2% as white (not Hispanic).

Asian and Pacific Islander 93%
Two or more races 3.7%
White (not Hispanic) 3.2%

The Census suppresses very small shares to protect privacy; Black, Hispanic are not shown.

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

Famous Peis

2 notable people on Wikidata, most written-about first

Mario Pei
American linguist and philologist (1901-1978)
Bui Thi Xuan
18th century Vietnamese female general during the Tây Sơn Rebellion, 1752–1802

Notable Peis come mostly from the Kingdom of Italy (1) and Vietnam (1).

Spellings and sound-alikes

Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling

Surnames that sound like Pei

Pei has the Soundex code P000, the code US census indexes have used since the 1930s. Every surname with code P000.

Other Chinese surnames

All 193 Chinese surnames

Questions

Where does the surname Pei come from?: Borrowed from Mandarin 裴 (Péi) or 貝／贝 (Bèi) (Wade–Giles romanisation: Pei⁴).
How common is the surname Pei?: 1,183 people in the United States had the surname Pei in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 260,985 Americans. It ranked 21,940th of 162,253 surnames.
What ethnicity is the surname Pei?: In the 2010 Census, 93% of people named Pei identified as Asian and Pacific Islander, and 3.7% as two or more races.
Who is the most famous person named Pei?: Mario Pei, American linguist and philologist (1901-1978), followed by Bui Thi Xuan.
Where is the surname Pei most common?: Wikidata records people named Pei in the Kingdom of Italy and Vietnam.
Is the surname Pei getting more or less common?: More common. 724 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 1,183 in 2010, up 63%.