How common is the surname Shi?

10,055 people in the United States had the surname Shi in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 30,706 Americans. It ranked 3,551st of 162,253 surnames.

Who is the most famous person named Shi?

Shi Yan Ming, American martial artist, followed by Xuanzang.

Where is the surname Shi most common?

Wikidata records people named Shi in the United States, Tang dynasty and Taiwan under Japanese rule and 1 other country.

Is the surname Shi getting more or less common?

More common. 4,886 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 10,055 in 2010, up 106%.

Is Shi also a first name?

Yes. Shi 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 Shi

A Chinese surname, carried by 10,055 people in the United States.

Pronounced /ʃə/ 1 syllable Soundex S000

Every surname held by 100 or more people in the 2010 US Census, most common on the left (162,253 in all). Shi is more common than 97.8% of them.

Origin

Chinese origin

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

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 10,055 people named Shi in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 30,706 Americans. That is up 106% since 2000, when the Census counted 4,886.

#3,551

rank among US surnames

10,055

people in 2010

3.4

per 100,000 Americans

+105.8%

change since 2000 (was #6,415)

Rank	Surname	People	1 in
#3,542	Joshi	10,089	30,602
#3,543	Moffitt	10,070	30,660
#3,544	Schweitzer	10,068	30,666
#3,545	Caro	10,064	30,678
#3,547	Vines	10,061	30,687
#3,548	Perdomo	10,058	30,697
#3,550	Eggleston	10,057	30,700

Who is named Shi

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

97% of people named Shi identified as Asian and Pacific Islander, 1.8% as white (not Hispanic).

Asian and Pacific Islander 97%
White (not Hispanic) 1.8%
Hispanic or Latino (any race) 0.5%
Two or more races 0.5%
Black (not Hispanic) 0.3%
American Indian and Alaska Native 0.1%

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

Famous Shis

4 notable people on Wikidata, most written-about first

Shi Yan Ming
American martial artist, born 1964
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)

Notable Shis come mostly from the United States (1), Tang dynasty (1) and Taiwan under Japanese rule (1).

Spellings and sound-alikes

Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling

Variant spellings

Shih

Surnames that sound like Shi

Shi has the Soundex code S000, the code US census indexes have used since the 1930s. Every surname with code S000.

Other Chinese surnames

All 193 Chinese surnames

Questions

Where does the surname Shi come from?: Romanization of Mandarin 石 (shí), 史 (shǐ), 師／师 (shī), 時／时 (shí), 士 (shì), 釋／释 (shì), and 施 (shī)
How common is the surname Shi?: 10,055 people in the United States had the surname Shi in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 30,706 Americans. It ranked 3,551st of 162,253 surnames.
What ethnicity is the surname Shi?: In the 2010 Census, 97% of people named Shi identified as Asian and Pacific Islander, and 1.8% as white (not Hispanic).
Who is the most famous person named Shi?: Shi Yan Ming, American martial artist, followed by Xuanzang.
Where is the surname Shi most common?: Wikidata records people named Shi in the United States, Tang dynasty and Taiwan under Japanese rule and 1 other country.
How do you pronounce Shi?: Shi is /ʃə/, one syllable.
Is the surname Shi getting more or less common?: More common. 4,886 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 10,055 in 2010, up 106%.
What are other spellings of Shi?: Shih.
Is Shi also a first name?: Yes. Shi 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.