The Bai surname
In the 2010 U.S. Census, 3,148 people carried this name — #10,237 among all U.S. surnames, about 1 in every 93,500 people counted. That is up 92% from 1,640 in 2000.
Where the name comes from
The origin of the Bai surname
From Chinese 白 (Bái).
From Wiktionary, the free dictionary (en.wiktionary.org) — entry «Bai» (English), by Wiktionary contributors · licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0) · excerpt, lightly adapted.
In Argentina’s national register
At least 281 people named Bai live in Argentina.
RENAPER only publishes a name in a province when more than ten people there share it, so the real number is higher. Most of them live in Buenos Aires Province.
Where it concentrates, on the mapWhere they live today
RENAPER (National Registry of Persons, Argentina), surnames of residents by province, December 2021 — CC BY 4.0.
In Switzerland’s population statistics
217 people named Bai live in Switzerland.
They live in 15 of Switzerland’s 26 cantons, most of all in Zurich.
Where it concentrates, on the mapWhere they live today
Swiss Federal Statistical Office (FSO), «Surnames of the permanent resident population by canton», 2025, opendata.swiss/en/dataset/nachnamen-der-standigen-wohnbevolkerung-nach-kanton3 · names with fewer than 3 bearers in a canton are not published.
In France’s civil register
France’s register of deaths holds 147 people named Bai.
50 of them were born outside France. Those born in France came from 26 départements, most often Vosges.
Too few records to say where it concentrates region by region — these are plain counts, not shares.
Where they were born
Fichier des personnes décédées, INSEE — Licence Ouverte 2.0 · deaths recorded in France since 1970, by place of birth.
In Belgium’s population register
At least 80 people named Bai live in Belgium.
Statbel only publishes a name in a municipality when five or more people there share it, so the real number is higher. Most of them live in Brussels-Capital.
Too few records to say where it concentrates region by region — these are plain counts, not shares.
Where they live today
Statbel (Statistics Belgium), family names of the population by municipality, 1 January 2026 — CC BY 4.0.
In the Nordic population registers
104 people named Bai is counted in Sweden.
Sweden’s figure is from 31 December 2022, the last count Statistics Sweden published.
Counted, by country
Own calculations based on data from Statistics Sweden (SCB), surnames with at least two bearers, 31 December 2022 — CC BY 4.0 (names with 20 or more bearers shown).
In print
Bai in American newspapers,
1887–1905.
Chronicling America, Library of Congress — digitised newspapers in the public domain · 676,579 pages in all carry the name.
Who carried it
People named Bai,
with a public archive behind them.
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Bai Yuanjian d. 817 · poet
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Bai Yufu d. 1822 · military personnel
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Bai Jian d. 576 · politician
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Bai Huiyuan d. 1638 · politician
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Bai Ying d. 1779 · politician
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Bai Shousu d. 1012 · military commander
Wikidata (CC0) · 8 lives in all are documented under this name.
Nearby in the index
Surnames next to Bai.
- Bah 4,690 · U.S. census
- Baha 241 · U.S. census
- Bahl 1,871 · U.S. census
- Bahr 7,731 · U.S. census
- Bahri 609 · U.S. census
- Bahu 146 · U.S. census
- Baier 5,238 · U.S. census
- Baietto 140 · U.S. census
- Bail 14,957 · U.S. census
- Baile 355 · U.S. census
- Bailey 277,845 · U.S. census
- Baillargeon 1,966 · U.S. census
When the index is not enough
This page says where Bai is.
A volume says what happened to it.
Every page in the index is free and stays free. The Heritage Volume is the long form: the full paper trail, the arms, the crossing — bound, and yours.