Meaning of Last Name

Li is a common transliteration of several Chinese family names, including 李 (pinyin: Lǐ), the most common Chinese family name, and the Korean family name Lee. Alternate Romanizations include Lai (Cantonese for the surname 黎), Lý (Vietnam), Lí (Vietnam), Lee (Hong Kong, Taiwan, Korea, Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore), Lei (Macau), Lie (Indonesia), and Lê (Vietnam). Taken collectively, these surnames make Li the most common surname in the world. Surnames transliterated as Li: * 黎 (pinyin: Lí) * 李, 理 and 里 (pinyin: Lǐ) * 郦, 酈, 栗, 厉, 厲, 莉, and 利 (pinyin: Lì) According to an unofficial count undertaken by the American company infoUSA, "Li" is the most common surname found in Canadian telephone directories.