Bai (surname)

Bai

Origin
Meaning	White (color)
Region of origin	China

Bai is the pinyin romanization of the common Chinese surname 白, meaning the color white. With its variants, Bai was ranked 79th within the list of common Chinese surnames in 2006, down from 70th in 1990.

Another surname, 柏, is written with a character normally also pronounced as "Bai", but as a surname is properly pronounced "Bo", according to the ancient reading of the character.

Origin

• King Ping of Chu's descendants used the surname Bai (白) after the Bai Country (白邑) in the territory of Chu (state).
• a surname used by the Mongol/Donghu people.
• in Yunnan, the Bai people used the surname Bai after their tribe name during the Tang Dynasty

Alternate spellings

• Mandarin: Bái
• Cantonese (Hong Kong and Macao): Baak6, Pak
• Min Nan (Hokkien (Fujian)/Teochew): Pe̍h, Pe̍k, Peh
• Vietnamese: Bạch
• Korean: Baek (백) based on the same Chinese letter 白
• Japanese: Bekku, Haku, Hyaku, Byaku

Notable people

• Bai An (1991-), Taiwanese singer
• Bai Baoshan (1958–1998), Chinese serial killer
• Bai Chongxi (1893–1966), Chinese Muslim general of the Republic of China
• Bai Guang (1921–1999), movie star and singer
• Helen Pai, American television writer, director, and producer
• Pai Hsiao-yen (1980–1997), Taiwanese teenage idol and victim of a fatal kidnapping
• Pai Hsien-yung (1937-), Chinese Muslim writer
• Bai Jie (1972-), Chinese female footballer
• Bai Jing (1983-2012), Chinese actress
• Bai Juyi (772-846), Tang Dynasty poet
• Pai Kun-Hong (1970-), Taiwanese baseball player
• Bai Ling (1966-), Chinese-born American actress
• Bai Qi (died 257 BC), Qin general of the Warring States Period
• Bai Renfu (1226–1306), Yuan Dynasty playwright
• Bai Shouyi (1909–2000), Chinese Muslim historian
• Pai Tzu-li, Chinese Muslim General of the Republic of China
• Bai Wenwei (1875–1947), Scholar, Kuomintang (KMT) General, Governor of Anhui (1912–13)
• Lou Pai (1946-), Chinese-American businessman and former Enron executive
• Bai Wenqi (born 1955), lieutenant general of the PLA Air Force

See also

• Pai (surname), India surname
• Alfredo Bai (1913–1980), Italian sculptor
• Marcus Bai (1972-), Papua New Guinean rugby league footballer
• Matt Bai (1968-), American political columnist