The Yi surname
In the 2010 U.S. Census, 17,934 people carried this name — #2,011 among all U.S. surnames, about 1 in every 16,400 people counted. That is up 18% from 15,254 in 2000.
Where the name comes from
The origin of the Yi surname
A surname from Korean. Equivalent to Chinese 李 (Lǐ).
Borrowed from Korean 이 (I) (based on the South Korean spelling), hanja: 李, also spelled 리 (Ri), especially in North Korea.
From Wiktionary, the free dictionary (en.wiktionary.org) — entry «Yi» (English), by Wiktionary contributors · licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0) · excerpt, lightly adapted.
In France’s civil register
France’s register of deaths holds 46 people named Yi.
Most of them — 31 — were born outside France. Those born in France came from 6 départements, most often Alpes-Maritimes.
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
39 people named Yi live in Switzerland.
They live in 8 of Switzerland’s 26 cantons, most of all in Zurich.
Too few records to say where it concentrates region by region — these are plain counts, not shares.
Where 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 the Nordic population registers
61 people named Yi 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
Yi in American newspapers,
1886–1909.
Chronicling America, Library of Congress — digitised newspapers in the public domain · 1,501 pages in all carry the name.
In print
Yi in Australian newspapers,
1820s–1990s.
15,594 articles name a Mr, Mrs or Miss Yi. The most, 3,099, date from the 1910s. Victoria 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 1.5 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 Yi.
Who carried it
People named Yi,
with a public archive behind them.
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Yi Shaozong d. 1401 · military commander -
Yi Bo d. 459 · military personnel
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Yi Xiang d. 1276
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Yi Qing d. 1136
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Yi Rongzhi d. 1854
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Yi Daoxian d. 1643
Wikidata (CC0) · portraits via Wikimedia Commons, shown cropped, in the public domain or CC0 · 10 lives in all are documented under this name.
In the public record
People named Yi,
in the records of 5 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 States33 records
- U.S. alien registration index, 1940–1955 16
- U.S. Army enlistment records, World War II 15
- Sacramento County historic burials 1
- U.S. veterans' cemetery records, burials to 2001 1
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Example: U.S. registration card, 1942 Military record Zhw S. Z. YiBorn 1910. Enlisted 1942 at Dobbs Ferry, New York; kitchen worker from Queens County.
U.S. National Archives, WWII Army Enlistment Records (public domain) -
Example: U.S. burial record, 1864 Burial record Dokmin YiU.S. Marine Corps veteran. Born 1959, died 2000; buried at Memorial Park Cemetery, Memphis, Tennessee.
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Gravesite Locator (CC0) -
Example: U.S. alien registration card, 1940s Alien registration Park K. YiBorn 1900 in Korea. Registered as a foreign national in Honolulu, Hawaii, under the Alien Registration Act of 1940.
U.S. National Archives, Flexoline Index Data File (public domain)
Showing 3 of 33 records for Yi 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) · Sacramento County, Historic Burials (CC BY 4.0) · U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Gravesite Locator (CC0). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: U.S. Selective Service registration card, 1942 (public domain); Record of death and interment, Camp Nelson, Kentucky, 1864, U.S. National Archives (public domain); Alien Registration Receipt Card, Form AR-3, photo by Bobjgalindo via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 4.0).
France7 records
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Example: French death register, 1930 Death record Kil Yo YiBorn 1947 in Kunsan (Corée); died 1994 in Hayange (Moselle).
Insee, Fichier des personnes décédées (Licence Ouverte) -
Example: French death register, 1930 Death record Andre Joseph YiBorn 1925 in Cannes (Alpes-Maritimes); died 2001 in Lorient (Morbihan).
Insee, Fichier des personnes décédées (Licence Ouverte) -
Example: French death register, 1930 Death record Kim Nghiem YiBorn 1951 in Cambodia; died 1991 in Clichy (Hauts-de-Seine).
Insee, Fichier des personnes décédées (Licence Ouverte)
Showing 3 of 7 records for Yi 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).
Australia2 records
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Example: probate petition, 1848 Probate record Pan Zhong YiRetired business of South Yarra, Victoria; died 1994.
Public Record Office Victoria (CC BY 4.0) -
Example: probate petition, 1848 Probate record Wensheng YiOf Chelsea, Victoria; died 2001.
Public Record Office Victoria (CC BY 4.0)
Counts: 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).
Netherlands2 records
- Dutch population registers 1
- Dutch civil registers (births, marriages, deaths) 1
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Example: civil register, 1880 Death record Wing YiDied 1953 in Rotterdam, aged 62.
Open Archives, Stadsarchief Rotterdam (CC BY 4.0) -
Example: U.S. census, 1910 Population register Sing YiIn the population register of Amsterdam; born 1880 in Hongkong.
Open Archives, Stadsarchief Amsterdam (CC BY 4.0)
Counts: Open Archives (CC BY 4.0). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Civil register, Berlin, 1880, Landesarchiv Berlin (CC0); U.S. census of 1910, Milwaukee (public domain).
United Kingdom1 record
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Example: roll of honour, 1914–1919 War record J. YiColdstream Guards. Listed among the dead in the War Office casualty list of 1917.
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 Yi.
- Yeager 22,634 · U.S. census
- Yee 20,591 · U.S. census
- Yeh 6,958 · U.S. census
- Yen 5,066 · U.S. census
- Yepez 6,433 · U.S. census
- Yeung 7,782 · U.S. census
- Yildirim 591 · U.S. census
- Yildiz 678 · U.S. census
- Yılmaz 1,427 · U.S. census
- Yim 6,144 · U.S. census
- Yin 6,548 · U.S. census
- Yingling 4,550 · U.S. census
When the index is not enough
This page says where Yi 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.