The Choi surname
In the 2010 U.S. Census, 50,786 people carried this name — #674 among all U.S. surnames, about 1 in every 5,810 people counted. That is up 40% from 36,390 in 2000.
Where the name comes from
The origin of the Choi surname
A surname from Chinese [in turn from Cantonese].
From Wiktionary, the free dictionary (en.wiktionary.org) — entry «Choi» (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 622 people named Choi 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 City of Buenos Aires.
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
187 people named Choi live in Switzerland.
They live in 10 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 Belgium’s population register
At least 97 people named Choi 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 Antwerp.
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 France’s civil register
France’s register of deaths holds 41 people named Choi.
Most of them — 37 — were born outside France. Those born in France came from 3 départements, most often Paris.
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 the Nordic population registers
149 people named Choi 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
Choi in American newspapers,
1899–1914.
Chronicling America, Library of Congress — digitised newspapers in the public domain · 195 pages in all carry the name.
In print
Choi in Australian newspapers,
1830s–1990s.
839 articles name a Mr, Mrs or Miss Choi. The most, 109, date from the 1910s. New South Wales has the most articles, but weighed against how much of each state’s press from the same decades has been digitised, the name stands out most in the Australian Capital Territory, at 1.4 times its expected share.
Articles, by state
Trove, National Library of Australia (trove.nla.gov.au) · articles in its digitised newspapers that name a Mr, Mrs or Miss Choi.
Who carried it
People named Choi,
with a public archive behind them.
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Choe Chiwon 857–901 · poet -
Ch'oe Yŏng 1316–1388 · military leader -
Choe Je-u 1824–1864 · Christian minister -
Choi Ik-hyun 1833–1907 · scientist -
Choi Yong-duk 1898–1969 · military personnel
Wikidata (CC0) · portraits via Wikimedia Commons, shown cropped — Ch'oe Yŏng: Copyright © National Folk Museum of Korea, All Rights Reserved., CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0); the others are in the public domain or CC0 · 151 lives in all are documented under this name.
In the public record
People named Choi,
in the records of 6 countries.
Soldiers, farmers, migrants and neighbours who carried the name and left a trace in public archives. Everyone shown here died long ago or was born more than a century ago.
United States160 records
- U.S. alien registration index, 1940–1955 138
- U.S. Army enlistment records, World War II 9
- U.S. veterans' cemetery records, burials to 2001 7
- New York City birth, marriage and death certificates 2
- Passenger arrivals in the United States, 1820–1912 1
- New York State death index (outside NYC), 1957–2001 1
- Sacramento County historic burials 1
- U.S. service members who died in the Vietnam War 1
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Example: U.S. war memorial War record William David ChoiBorn 1947; from Watsonville, California. U.S. Army, infantryman; killed in action 1968 in Phong Dinh, South Vietnam.
U.S. National Archives, Defense Casualty Analysis System (public domain) -
Example: U.S. registration card, 1942 Military record Tong L. ChoiBorn 1905. Enlisted 1942 at New York City; cook from New York County, New York.
U.S. National Archives, WWII Army Enlistment Records (public domain) -
Example: passenger manifest, 1903 Passenger record Angelo ChoiArrived at New York in 1882 aboard the France from Havre, aged 27; farmer. From Italy; bound for New York.
U.S. National Archives, Castle Garden Immigration Center Collection, Ship Passenger Records (unrestricted)
Showing 3 of 160 records for Choi in the United States.
Counts: U.S. National Archives, Flexoline Index Data File (public domain) · U.S. National Archives, WWII Army Enlistment Records (public domain) · U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Gravesite Locator (CC0) · NYC Department of Records & Information Services, Historical Vital Records (NYC Open Data) · U.S. National Archives, Castle Garden Immigration Center Collection, Ship Passenger Records (unrestricted) · New York State Department of Health, Genealogical Research Death Index · Sacramento County, Historic Burials (CC BY 4.0) · U.S. National Archives, Defense Casualty Analysis System (public domain). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Vietnam Veterans Memorial, photo by U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Michael J. Carden, 2009 (public domain); U.S. Selective Service registration card, 1942 (public domain); Passenger manifest of the S.S. St. Paul, New York, 1903 (public domain).
Canada13 records
- City of Calgary cemetery records 9
- City of Winnipeg cemetery records 2
- Mountain View Cemetery, Vancouver 1
- City of Waterloo (Ontario) cemetery records 1
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Example: Canadian cemetery Burial record Hae-Shin ChoiBuried in 1998 at Queen's Park Cemetery, Calgary, Alberta, aged 94.
City of Calgary. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – City of Calgary. -
Example: Canadian cemetery Burial record Yu Chun ChoiDied 1991, aged 73; buried at Brookside Cemetery, Winnipeg, Manitoba.
City of Winnipeg. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Winnipeg. -
Example: Canadian cemetery Burial record Charles ChoiBuried in 1991 at Parkview Cemetery, Waterloo, Ontario.
Contains information provided by the City of Waterloo under licence
Showing 3 of 13 records for Choi in Canada.
Counts: City of Calgary. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – City of Calgary. · City of Winnipeg. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Winnipeg. · City of Vancouver. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Vancouver. · Contains information provided by the City of Waterloo under licence. Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Fairview Lawn Cemetery, Halifax, photo by Edgar El (CC BY 3.0).
France11 records
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Example: French death register, 1930 Death record Jon Sig ChoiBorn 1973 in Wando Kun (Corée); died 1996 in Chamonix-Mont-Blanc (Haute-Savoie).
Insee, Fichier des personnes décédées (Licence Ouverte) -
Example: French death register, 1930 Death record Young-Hee ChoiBorn 1959 in Ulsan (Corée); died 1994 in Saint-Marc-Jaumegarde (Bouches-du-Rhône).
Insee, Fichier des personnes décédées (Licence Ouverte) -
Example: French death register, 1930 Death record Hyun-Suk ChoiBorn 1963 in Seoul (Corée du Sud); died 2001 in Boulogne-Billancourt (Hauts-de-Seine).
Insee, Fichier des personnes décédées (Licence Ouverte)
Showing 3 of 11 records for Choi in France.
Counts: Insee, Fichier des personnes décédées (Licence Ouverte). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Death register of Nice, 1930, Archives départementales des Alpes-Maritimes (public domain).
Australia4 records
- Canberra cemetery and marriage records 1
- Queensland State Archives indexes 1
- Victoria passenger lists, 1839–1923 1
- Victoria wills and probate, deaths to 2001 1
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Example: probate petition, 1848 Probate record David Cheung ChoiOf East Malvern, Victoria; died 1995.
Public Record Office Victoria (CC BY 4.0) -
Example: burial register, 1858 Burial record Kam Ieong ChoiDied 1995; buried at Gungahlin Cemetery, Canberra, ACT.
ACT Government, Transport Canberra and City Services (CC BY 4.0)
Showing 2 of 4 records for Choi in Australia.
Counts: ACT Government, Transport Canberra and City Services (CC BY 4.0) · Queensland State Archives (CC BY 4.0) · Public Record Office Victoria (CC BY 4.0). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Petition to the probate court, St. Louis, 1848, Missouri Historical Society (public domain); Burial register of Newtown, Montgomeryshire, 1858, National Library of Wales (CC0).
Netherlands2 records
- Dutch population registers 1
- Dutch civil registers (births, marriages, deaths) 1
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Example: civil register, 1880 Death record Ngot Lan ChoiDied 1968 in Rotterdam, aged 83.
Open Archives, Stadsarchief Rotterdam (CC BY 4.0)
Showing 1 of 2 records for Choi in the Netherlands.
Counts: Open Archives (CC BY 4.0). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Civil register, Berlin, 1880, Landesarchiv Berlin (CC0).
United Kingdom1 record
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Example: roll of honour, 1914–1919 War record A. ChoiRoyal Field Artillery. Listed among the dead in the War Office casualty list of 1918.
National Library of Scotland, War Office Weekly Casualty Lists (public domain)
Counts: National Library of Scotland, War Office Weekly Casualty Lists (public domain). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: C. & E. Morton Ltd roll of honour, 1914–1919, photo by Adrian S Pye via Geograph (CC BY-SA 2.0).
Nearby in the index
Surnames next to Choi.
- Chiu 13,174 · U.S. census
- Chmiel 1,690 · U.S. census
- Chmielewski 3,449 · U.S. census
- Cho 33,490 · U.S. census
- Choate 11,372 · U.S. census
- Choe 7,776 · U.S. census
- Chojnacki 1,630 · U.S. census
- Chol 384 · U.S. census
- Cholewa 663 · U.S. census
- Chollet 143 · U.S. census
- Chon 3,643 · U.S. census
- Chong 15,146 · U.S. census
When the index is not enough
This page says where Choi 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.