Yi Surname

217th
Most Common
surname in the World

Approximately 2,456,163 people bear this surname

Most prevalent in:
China
Highest density in:
Myanmar

Yi Surname User-submission:

Yi (弋), an old character meaning bow with string and arrow (stroke 1 being the arrow, stroke 2 being the bow, stroke 3 being the string), or otherwise meaning, "to shoot". Some people think this Yi is referencing the Chinese archer, HouYi, however, that Yi is this one: 羿.

Read More About This Surname

Yi Surname Distribution Map

By incidenceBy frequencyBy rank
Incidence (high to low)Incidence (low to high)Alphabetic A-ZAlphabetic Z-ARank (high to low)Rank (low to high)
PlaceIncidenceFrequencyRank in Area
China2,182,1451:62797
Myanmar180,9311:28759
Cambodia23,9771:646172
United States22,4901:16,1162,044
Singapore10,3871:53090
Taiwan9,0161:2,60098
Thailand6,5031:10,862637
Hong Kong5,4541:1,345128
Malaysia2,9381:10,0391,133
Nigeria1,8021:98,3036,711
South Korea1,4561:35,192133
Canada1,3011:28,3213,739
Australia1,0261:26,3123,582
Brazil5351:400,13915,252
Ghana4161:64,9546,785
Macau4101:1,467189
India4021:1,908,12366,445
Indonesia4001:330,62328,905
Japan3991:320,41211,497
Saudi Arabia3981:77,52710,981
Dominican Republic3851:27,0991,663
Pakistan3711:481,5208,426
Peru3171:100,2656,399
England2891:192,79617,040
France2881:230,63435,776
United Arab Emirates2521:36,3583,839
New Zealand1971:22,9864,040
Vietnam1891:490,1911,434
Germany1411:570,96146,627
Cuba1261:91,4502,877
Spain1131:413,73522,335
Brunei871:4,813732
Colombia821:582,6117,469
Guam821:1,953256
Netherlands821:205,94128,291
Ecuador651:244,7058,424
Panama591:66,3092,910
French Polynesia551:5,1061,145
Sweden531:185,78812,836
Mexico491:2,533,18821,064
Venezuela451:671,20211,567
Chile311:568,27313,994
Qatar311:76,0647,685
Belgium261:442,17945,013
Italy261:2,352,18093,058
South Africa251:2,167,10894,352
Russia241:6,005,127248,576
Philippines231:4,401,662162,661
Argentina171:2,514,318114,515
Angola161:1,686,8263,823
Norway161:321,39331,311
American Samoa141:3,983910
Switzerland141:586,63740,624
Denmark131:434,20928,556
Scotland111:486,71119,179
Cameroon101:2,076,907105,188
Egypt91:10,215,08448,153
Ethiopia91:10,838,47414,518
Hungary91:1,090,69749,203
Iran81:9,597,816173,045
Northern Mariana Islands81:6,822652
Finland61:916,11741,832
Afghanistan51:6,430,63727,710
Belarus51:1,900,21297,012
Israel51:1,711,52784,568
Bahrain41:337,1526,054
Iraq41:8,755,41423,373
Laos41:1,647,081888
Rwanda41:2,841,2443,611
Kenya31:15,393,30077,493
Nepal31:9,493,65216,132
Turkey31:25,940,474162,557
Wales31:1,031,51134,732
Ireland21:2,354,47019,715
Algeria21:19,315,77697,017
Austria21:4,257,71899,224
Benin21:5,167,80184,334
Burkina Faso21:9,176,05023,741
Czechia21:5,316,734169,646
Greece21:5,539,895129,142
Honduras21:4,408,2217,709
Oman21:1,843,9869,590
Paraguay21:3,618,37313,977
Romania21:10,038,93580,612
Tanzania21:26,470,806111,653
Ukraine21:22,761,348425,733
Armenia11:2,930,18022,770
Bangladesh11:159,356,77326,077
Belize11:355,4743,977
Bosnia and Herzegovina11:3,536,40219,532
Cayman Islands11:63,8932,384
Chad11:13,592,19913,092
Costa Rica11:4,780,06913,345
DR Congo11:73,879,570260,543
East Timor11:1,215,928507
Georgia11:3,745,54547,852
Guatemala11:16,082,66812,169
Iceland11:380,09011,096
Jordan11:8,842,43726,010
Kazakhstan11:17,682,496204,010
Kuwait11:3,800,69427,187
Latvia11:2,050,04660,295
Lebanon11:5,637,08332,436
Lithuania11:3,034,58847,401
Luxembourg11:580,54215,155
Maldives11:404,1727,269
Mauritania11:4,094,86338,869
Mongolia11:2,825,28917,010
Morocco11:34,476,099111,471
Mozambique11:27,261,5697,432
Palau11:21,643223
Papua New Guinea11:8,153,717181,784
Poland11:38,008,749231,653
Senegal11:14,579,34211,705
Slovakia11:5,336,450140,422
Sri Lanka11:20,808,56018,521
Sudan11:37,510,19514,259
Tajikistan11:8,386,69212,859
Uganda11:39,039,279258,887
Vanuatu11:263,2762,086
Zambia11:15,849,92253,989
Show All Nations
PlaceIncidenceFrequencyRank in Area
United States121:4,184,890180,076

The alternate forms: Yì (3) are calculated separately.

Yi (310,702) may also be a first name.

Yi Surname Meaning

User-submitted Reference

Yi (弋), an old character meaning bow with string and arrow (stroke 1 being the arrow, stroke 2 being the bow, stroke 3 being the string), or otherwise meaning, "to shoot". Some people think this Yi is referencing the Chinese archer, HouYi, however, that Yi is this one: 羿. My mother tells me that our surname, 弋, is the result of a great Chinese strategist and war hero naming all of his sons rhyming names, his name being Mi. For example, his eldest son was named after him (Mi), and the next would be named Li, and the next, Yui, and so on. One of his sons happened to be a keen archer, and thus was given the name Yi (弋).There is a group of people living in Chine known as the Yi People, and many of them happen to also be named Yi, but not this one 弋.This specific character of Yi (弋) isn't seen very often (at least in my experience), and is only passed down from the direct descendants (first born or otherwise, son) of the first Yi (弋). son of Mi (I think it's 米?).

- casiria

Some Korean Yi families trace their origins back to China. The founder of the Choson Kingdom, or Yi Dynasty, Yi Song-gye, was a member of the Yi clan from Chonju. This clan ruled the Korean peninsula from 1392 to 1910. Chinese: from an area named Yi, probably from Yi county in Hebei province.

- watermelon101
DNA test information
Display Statistics on:

Yi Demographics

Yi Political Affiliation
in United States

Sample size: 5,271 (2014)

United States
Average

View the most partisan surnames in The United States

Yi Last Name Facts

Where Does The Last Name Yi Come From? nationality or country of origin

The surname Yi (Hindi: यी, Marathi: यी, Oriya: ଦି, Russian: Йи) is more commonly found in China than any other country/territory. It may be rendered as: Yì. For other potential spellings of this surname click here.

How Common Is The Last Name Yi? popularity and diffusion

Yi is the 217th most frequently occurring last name on a global scale It is held by around 1 in 2,967 people. This last name occurs mostly in Asia, where 99 percent of Yi live; 90 percent live in East Asia and 89 percent live in Sino-East Asia. It is also the 3,363rd most frequently used first name globally. It is borne by 310,702 people.

The surname is most commonly occurring in China, where it is carried by 2,182,145 people, or 1 in 627. Excluding China this last name occurs in 120 countries. It is also common in Myanmar, where 7 percent reside and Cambodia, where 1 percent reside.

Yi Family Population Trend historical fluctuation

The occurrence of Yi has changed through the years. In The United States the number of people bearing the Yi last name increased 187,417 percent between 1880 and 2014.

Yi Last Name Statistics demography

The religious adherence of those holding the surname is chiefly Christian (100%) in Nigeria.

In The United States those holding the Yi surname are 1.21% more likely to be registered with the Democratic Party than The US average, with 52.02% registered to vote for the party.

The amount Yi earn in different countries varies greatly. In Norway they earn 12.75% more than the national average, earning 390,209 kr per year; in Peru they earn 109.87% more than the national average, earning S/. 40,684 per year; in South Africa they earn 485.29% more than the national average, earning R 1,390,860 per year; in Colombia they earn 10.32% less than the national average, earning $20,360,200 COP per year; in United States they earn 19.98% more than the national average, earning $51,770 USD per year and in Canada they earn 12.61% more than the national average, earning $55,948 CAD per year.

Phonetically Similar Names

Incidence (high to low)Incidence (low to high)Alphabetic A-ZAlphabetic Z-ASimilarity (high to low)Similarity (low to high)Prevalent jurisdiction A-ZPrevalent jurisdiction Z-A
SurnameSimilarityWorldwide IncidencePrevalency
Yì833/
Yip80146,071/
Yit802,757/
Yih801,406/
Yie801,227/
Yis80791/
Yiğ80260/
Hyi80197/
Yid8042/
Jyi8028/
Yiz807/
I677,588,136/
Y6739,814/
Ohyi67711/
Ahyi67411/
Yiğe67250/
Yihs67205/
Yipp6769/
Yich6752/
Yihe6733/
Yish6717/
Yiss675/
Ehyi673/
Yist672/
Yitt672/
O'Yi672/
Uhyi671/
Yihz671/
Yids671/
Yidz671/
Ieyi671/
Hhyi671/
Yizz671/
Yiph671/
Yijz671/
Show All Similar Surnames

Yi Name Transliterations

TransliterationICU LatinPercentage of Incidence
Yi in the Oriya language
ଦିdi-
Yi in the Marathi language
यीyi-
Yi in the Hindi language
यीyi93.33
बीbi6.67
Yi in the Russian language
Йиji-

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Footnotes

  • Surnames are taken as the first part of an person's inherited family name, caste, clan name or in some cases patronymic
  • Descriptions may contain details on the name's etymology, origin, ethnicity and history. They are largely reproduced from 3rd party sources; diligence is advised on accepting their validity - more information
  • Name distribution statistics are generated from a global database of over 4 billion people - more information
  • Heatmap: Dark red means there is a higher occurrence of the name, transitioning to light yellow signifies a progressively lower occurrence. Clicking on selected countries will show mapping at a regional level
  • Rank: Name are ranked by incidence using the ordinal ranking method; the name that occurs the most is assigned a rank of 1; name that occur less frequently receive an incremented rank; if two or more name occur the same number of times they are assigned the same rank and successive rank is incremented by the total preceeding names
  • Ethnic group cannot necessarily be determined by geographic occurrence
  • Similar: Names listed in the "Similar" section are phonetically similar and may not have any relation to Yi
  • To find out more about this surname's family history, lookup records on Family​Search, My​Heritage, FindMyPast and Ancestry. Further information may be obtained by DNA analysis