Pai (白)
A Taiwanese surname.
白 Pai
- Zhuyin
- ㄅㄞˊ
- Pinyin
- bái
- Wade-Giles
- Pai
- Further spellings of 白
- Bai
- Taiwanese Hokkien (Tâi-lô)
- Pe̍h Pe̍h is the colloquial (白讀) reading, while pi̍k is the character's literary (文讀) reading.
- Hakka (Sixian)
- pag⁵
- Rank in Taiwan
- 82nd most common surname, roughly 0.14% of the population (2023 Ministry of the Interior figures)
What the character means
'White'; as a verb it means 'to state, explain' (as in 表白); it also denotes the spoken lines in opera.
Where the surname comes from
Several early lines are on record, among them descendants of Bai Gongsheng (白公勝) of Chu, grandson of King Ping of Chu, and descendants of Prince Bai of Qin. Hall name (堂號): 南陽堂.
Saying it 我姓白 — wǒ xìng bái (ㄨㄛˇ ㄒㄧㄥˋ ㄅㄞˊ), "my family name is 白"
Sources: rank and share, 內政部 全國姓名統計分析 (Ministry of the Interior, National Name Statistics), data as of 2023-06-30. Taiwanese Hokkien readings, 教育部臺灣台語常用詞辭典 (MOE Dictionary of Frequently-Used Taiwanese Taigi), 百家姓 appendix. Hakka, 教育部臺灣客語辭典 (MOE Dictionary of Taiwan Hakka), 百家姓表, Sixian (四縣腔).