Bai (surname)

Not to be confused with Bae (surname), Bei (surname), or Pei (surname).

Bái

Romanization	Bái or Bó (Mandarin) Baak (Hong Kong Cantonese) Pha̍k or Pag (Hakka) Pe̍h, Pe̍eh, Pe̍k, or Pia̍k (Hokkien) Bêh (Teochew) Bạch (Vietnamese)
Origin
Language(s)	Chinese
Word/name	China Mongolia
Meaning	White (color)
Region of origin	China
Other names
Variant form(s)	Pekasa, Pekerti, Peris (Chinese-Indonesian)

Bái is the pinyin of the surname 白, meaning the colour white.

Another surname, 柏, means the tree cypress. This one is the 37th name on the Hundred Family Surnames poem. Since 柏 is a character with two readings, it is often mistakenly read as "Bó". In modern Chinese, the proper way to pronounce it as a surname is "Bǎi".

Bai and other variants were ranked 79th within the list of common Chinese surnames in 2006, down from 70th in 1990.

Origin

• a surname used by descendants of Bai Fu, a minister of the legendary Emperor Yan.
• a surname used by descendants of Bai Gongsheng, the son of a crown prince of the State of Chu during the Spring and Autumn Period.
• a surname used by the descendants of a prince named Bai, son of Duke Wu of the state of Qin.
• a surname used by descendants of Duke Mu of Qin.
• a surname used by the Mongols, possibly derived from Borjigin.
• a surname used by the Manchus of Irgen Gioro and Bayara Gioro
• during the ancient Tang Dynasty in modern-day Yunnan, the Bai people used the surname Bai after their tribe name
• a surname used by the ancient Donghu people.
• a surname used by the ancient people of Kucha (or Qiuci). Kucha was an ancient country located in current Xinjiang province of China.

Alternate spellings

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

Notable people

• Bai An (白安, 1991-), Taiwanese singer, Manchus
• Bai Chongxi (白崇禧, 1893–1966), Chinese Muslim general of the Republic of China
• Bai Chong'en, 白重恩 Chinese economist
• Pai Hsiao-yen (白曉燕, 1980–1997), Taiwanese teenage idol and victim of a fatal kidnapping
• Pai Hsien-yung (白先勇, 1937-), Chinese Muslim writer
• Bai Jie (白洁, 1972-), Chinese female footballer
• Bai Jing (白静, 1983–2012), Chinese actress
• Bai Juyi (白居易, 772–846), Tang Dynasty poet
• Pai Kun-Hong (白昆弘, 1970-), Taiwanese baseball player
• Bai Ling (白灵, 1966-), Chinese-born American actress
• Bai Qi (白起, died 257 BC), Qin general of the Warring States Period
• Bai Renfu (白仁甫, 1226–1306), Yuan Dynasty playwright
• Bai Shouyi (白寿彝, 1909–2000) (Arabic name: Djamal al-Din Bai Shouyi) Chinese Muslim historian
• Bai Shuxiang (白淑湘, born 1939), Chinese ballet dancer
• Lou Pai (白露龍, 1947-), Chinese-American businessman and former Enron executive
• Bai Wenqi (白文奇, born 1955), Lieutenant general of the PLA Air Force
• Bai Chunli (白春礼, born 1953), Manchus, Chinese physical chemist and nanoscientist, President of the Chinese Academy of Sciences
• Peter Pek, chief executive of the World Branding Forum
• Bai Yansong (白岩松, 1968), Chinese host
• Rose Pak (白蘭; 1947–2016) Chinese-born political activist in San Francisco, California
• Michelle Bai (白冰, 1986) is a Chinese actress and singer
• Bai Jingting (白敬亭, 1993) Chinese Actor
• Peh Thian Hui (白添辉), Singaporean convicted rapist

柏

• Bai Jiajun (柏佳骏; 1991) is a Chinese football player
• Bai Wenwei (柏文蔚; 1876–1947), KMT General, Governor of Anhui Province, Advisor to Presidential Palace, Chairman Anhui Provincial Government, KMT Central Party Committee, and Central Executive Committee
• Bai Xiaolei (柏小磊; 1985-) is a Chinese football player born in Dalian
• Bai Yan (柏衍; 1989-) is a Chinese male tennis player born in Nanjing, Jiangsu
• Penname: Bo Yang (柏楊; 1920 – 2008), was a Taiwanese poet, essayist and historian, real name Guo Dingsheng (郭定生)

拜

• Pai Tzu-li, (拜自立) Chinese Muslim General of the Republic of China

As part of a stagename/pseudonym

• Bai Guang (白光 stagename) (1921–1999), birth name Shi Yongfen (史永芬) movie star and singer

Korean

• Helen Pai, American television writer, director, and producer

See also

• Tommaso Bai or Baj (1636–1714), Italian composer WP:it
• Alfredo Bai (1913–1980), Italian sculptor
• Matt Bai (1968-), American political columnist
• Marcus Bai (1972-), Papua New Guinean rugby league footballer
• Alison Bai (born 1990), Australian tennis player.