Pi (surname) explained

Pi (皮)
Pronunciation:	Pí (Mandarin) Pei (Cantonese)
Language:	Chinese
Language origin:	Old Chinese
Variant:	P'i

Pi is the Mandarin pinyin romanization of the Chinese surname written in Chinese character. It is romanized P'i in Wade–Giles, and Pei in Cantonese. Pi is listed 85th in the Song dynasty classic text Hundred Family Surnames.^[1] According to a 2008 study, it was not among the 300 most common surnames in China.^[2] However a 2013 study found that it was the 279th most common name, being shared by 229,000 people or 0.017% of the population, with the province with the most people being Hunan.

The same surname is also a Korean family name, shared by 6,578 people in South Korea in 2015.^[3]

Notable people

• Pi Rixiu (ca. 834–883), Tang dynasty poet
• Pi Guangye (877–943), chancellor of the Wuyue Kingdom
• Pi Xirui (皮錫瑞; 1850–1908), Qing dynasty Confucianist
• Pi Zongshi (1887–1967), President of Hunan University
• Ignatius Pi Shushi (1897–1978), archbishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Shenyang
• Pi Dingjun (皮定钧; 1914–1976), PLA lieutenant general
• So-Young Pi (born 1946), South Korean physicist
• Pi Hongyan (born 1979), Chinese-born French badminton player

Notes and References

1. Web site: 百家姓 . Hundred Family Surnames . Guoxue . Chinese . 2014-09-16.
2. Web site: http://www.taiwan.cn/zppd/XSDG/200901/t20090106_811068.htm . zh:中国最新300大姓排名（2008）. 300 most common surnames in China (2008) . Taiwan.cn . Chinese . 2009-01-06 . 2014-09-24.
3. Web site: 성씨ㆍ본관별 인구 - 시군구. 2021-08-11. kosis.kr. Korean.