The Thai surname
In the 2010 U.S. Census, 11,644 people carried this name — #3,089 among all U.S. surnames, about 1 in every 25,300 people counted. That is up 38% from 8,440 in 2000.
In France’s civil register
France’s register of deaths holds 168 people named Thai.
Most of them — 145 — were born outside France. Those born in France came from 8 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 Switzerland’s population statistics
154 people named Thai live in Switzerland.
They live in 13 of Switzerland’s 26 cantons, most of all in Solothurn.
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 26 people named Thai 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
205 people named Thai are counted in Sweden and Finland.
Sweden’s figure is from 31 December 2022, the last count Statistics Sweden published. Finland counts its citizens, at home or abroad.
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) · Digital and Population Data Services Agency (DVV), Finland, surname statistics, August 2026 — CC BY 4.0.
In print
Thai in American newspapers,
1897.
Chronicling America, Library of Congress — digitised newspapers in the public domain · 3,191,232 pages in all carry the name.
Nearby in the index
Surnames next to Thai.
- Teton 124 · U.S. census
- Tetreau 252 · U.S. census
- Tetu 221 · U.S. census
- Teutsch 601 · U.S. census
- Teyssier 170 · U.S. census
- Thach 6,229 · U.S. census
- Thal 465 · U.S. census
- Thaler 2,237 · U.S. census
- Thalmann 423 · U.S. census
- Thao 23,404 · U.S. census
- Tharin 126 · U.S. census
- Thau 457 · U.S. census
When the index is not enough
This page says where Thai 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.