# Tai (surname)

Source: https://namelineage.com/surname/tai/  
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 Chinese.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Origin | Chinese |
| Type | not recorded |
| People in the US (2010 Census) | 4,401 |
| US rank (2010) | 7,553 of 162,253 |
| How often | about 1 in every 70,153 people |
| Change since 2000 | +18% (3,732 in 2000) |
| Pronunciation | /taɪ/, 1 syllable |
| Variant spellings | none recorded |

## Etymology

From the Hanyu Pinyin romanization of the Mandarin pronunciation of Chinese 邰 (Tái) and 斄 /𭤎 (Tái).

## Who carries it

Share of people named Tai 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) | 3.9% |
| Black (not Hispanic) | 3.2% |
| Hispanic or Latino (any race) | 1.8% |
| Asian and Pacific Islander | 86% |
| American Indian and Alaska Native | 0.2% |
| Two or more races | 4.8% |

## Where

Wikidata records people named Tai in Taiwan.

## People named Tai

- Kobe Tai, American pornographic actress

## Similar surnames

Ta, Tao, Tay, Thai, Thao, Tu, To, Toy, Tew, Tye, Towe, Toohey.

## 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.