Yi
Yi surname in regular script
PronunciationYì (Pinyin)
E̍k, Ī (Pe̍h-ōe-jī)
Language(s)Chinese
Origin
Language(s)Old Chinese
Other names
Variant form(s)Yi, Yih (Mandarin)
Yick or Yik(Cantonese)
Ek, Yee (Hokkien)

Yi can be a Korean or a Chinese surname. In Cantonese it is transliterated as Yick or Yik, the Chinese commercial code (CCC) of which is 2496. It is also rarely spelled as Yih or Ie, depending on where it is originated.

Yi (이), is a phonetic pronunciation of a Korean surname that has a different origin than the Chinese surname (易). The origin of Yi (Korean surname) can be traced back to the writings of Sima Qian and Three Kingdoms of Korea and uses the Chinese characters 李, 異, or 伊. They are often romanized as Li (surname) or Lee (Korean surname), or Itō (surname) in Japanese.

Yi is also different Chinese family names, written (Chinese: 伊; pinyin: Yì), (Chinese: 弋; pinyin: Yì) and (Chinese: 乙; pinyin: Yǐ).

Place of origin

According to the book of Hundred Family Surnames (百家姓), Yi family originated from Jiang (姜) family who moved to Yi county (present day Chang county in Hebei province). The other place of origin is Yi county (present day Yi county in Hebei province). During the period of Qin dynasty, Yi family were mainly situated at Shandong and Henan. At the end of Eastern Han dynasty until the beginning of Southern and Northern Dynasties period, they started to scatter across the central plains, and moving toward present day Hunan province.

Yi surname ranks 106th among other family surnames in mainland China with members up to more than 1.7 million, making 0.12% of total Chinese population.[citation needed] A 2013 study found that it was the 114th most-common name, shared by 1.75 million people, or 0.130% of the population, with the largest province being Hunan.[1]

Notable people (易)

Fictional people

References

  1. ^ 中国四百大姓 Front Cover, Yuan Yida, 邱家儒, Beijing Book Co. Inc., 1 January 2013
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