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Pei (surname)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Pei (裴)
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Bo Yi, the leader of Dongyi people and helper of Yu the Great, was described as the ancestor of surnames Ying and Pei in Chinese history
PronunciationPéi (Mandarin)
LanguageChinese
Origin
LanguageOld Chinese
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The surname Pei in China is strongly associated with southeast Shanxi. The most prominent Pei clan of Hedong originated from here, and Shanxi used to be the region having the most people with Pei as their surname in ancient times.

Pei (Chinese: 裴; pinyin: Péi) is an East Asian surname originating in north China. In 2008, it was the 156th most common surname in mainland China, with at least 830,000 Chinese sharing this surname.[1]

There are also people with this surname based on the same Chinese letter in Vietnam (as Bùi), where it is in relative terms much more common (the 9th most common surname), and Korea (as Bae; 배).

The surname Lei (壘) was accidentally created from Pei as a result of a transcription error.[2]

By coincidence, "Pei" is also an Italian surname (of two syllables), whose meaning may derive from the pear or pear tree, or alternatively, represent an abbreviation of "Pietro" or "Pompeo."[3]

Notable people

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Historical figures

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China

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  • Carl Pei (born Péi Yǔ; 1989–), Chinese-born Swedish entrepreneur
  • Pei Rongfu (1924–2025), Chinese engineer
  • Pei Wenzhong (1904–1982), anthropologist

Italy

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References

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  1. ↑ "中国最新300大姓排名(2008 [Statistics on the number of citizens with each surname in China, based on records of National Identity Cards]." 2009-01-06. Accessed 20 Jun 2015.(in Chinese)
  2. ↑ Chao, Sheau-yueh J. 尋根溯源中國人的姓氏: Genealogical Research on Chinese Surnames
  3. ↑ Joseph Guerin Fucilla, Our Italian Surnames, p. 86.