# Shi (surname)

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

A surname from Mandarin of Chinese origin, the 63rd most common in China.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Origin | Chinese |
| Type | not recorded |
| People in the US (2010 Census) | 10,055 |
| US rank (2010) | 3,551 of 162,253 |
| How often | about 1 in every 30,706 people |
| Change since 2000 | +106% (4,886 in 2000) |
| Pronunciation | /ʃə/, 1 syllable |
| Variant spellings | Shih |

## Etymology

Romanization of Mandarin 石 (shí), 史 (shǐ), 師／师 (shī), 時／时 (shí), 士 (shì), 釋／释 (shì), and 施 (shī)

## Who carries it

Share of people named Shi 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) | 1.8% |
| Black (not Hispanic) | 0.3% |
| Hispanic or Latino (any race) | 0.5% |
| Asian and Pacific Islander | 97% |
| American Indian and Alaska Native | 0.1% |
| Two or more races | 0.5% |

## Where

Wikidata records people named Shi in the United States, Tang dynasty, Taiwan under Japanese rule and Taiwan.

## People named Shi

- Shi Yan Ming, American martial artist
- Xuanzang, 7th-century Chinese Buddhist monk and scholar (602–664)
- Su Beng, Activist and former Senior Advisor to the President of Taiwan (1918–2019)
- Simon Sze, American electrical engineer (1936–2023)

## Similar surnames

Shih, Shu, Shy, Shieh, Sha, Shō, Shaw, Shah, Shea, Seay, Su, Shay.

## 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.