Chi

Spellings & scripts●

Locally spelled Chii in MY Malaysia, NL Netherlands, DE Germany and 3 more and Chï in DZ Algeria, MA Morocco.

Meaning & origin●

Attested across 14 languages in the etymology graph.

Languages●

Language is read off each record's context, not declared by the bearer; a share is of all records for this spelling.

Other names spelled this way◐

Chi is also recorded as 7 other names, grouped separately because the records behind them do not connect to the one described above.

• Vietnamese given name377K records spelled Chi10 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Vietnam

  Also written Chí, Chỉ, Chì, Chĩ, Chi'

• Korean name343K records spelled Chi12 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in South Korea

  Also written Chí, Chî, Ćĥí, Ċĥi, Chï

• Chinese given name155K records spelled Chi14 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macao, Algeria

  Also written Chï, Chî, Çhï, Chį, Çhį

• a separate surname83K records spelled Chi28 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Vietnam, United States, Mexico, India

  Also written Chí, Chỉ, Chị, Çhï, Chî

• a separate name30K records spelled Chi7 spellings in the group

  Also written Ch'I, Chị, Chí, Čhī, Chī

• Malay given name14K records spelled Chi15 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Malaysia, Indonesia, Algeria

  Languages: Malay, Indonesian

  Also written Çhî, Čhî, Çhï, Chï, Chį

• Japanese name7.1K records spelled Chi5 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Japan

  Also written Chị, Chí, Chỉ

80 further groups record this spelling and are not listed here.

Grouping is the name graph's, not a register's: two spellings join a group when the evidence links them, so a group is a claim about the records rather than about the people.

Other recorded senses●

Chi is also recorded in 5 other lexicons, as a different name or as an ordinary word. These are senses of the spelling, not of the name above.

• In Vietnamese, genus

  as a word·kaikki.org Wiktionary extract (IPA + transliterations)

• In Vietnamese, Hán-Việt: cành nhánh; chi phái.

  as a name·Tên Họ Người Việt Nam

• In cdo, ( f.rt Used for the coll. a yKM numerative of skeins, and of J^、 Bmall bunches, as of coarse • paper, flowers, coiffure - cord, inceuse - sticks, etc. (46) Chi6. Chid\ A coll. word, as in chid、 s&a* not much, a very little, a trifling amount.

  as a word·An Alphabetic Dictionary of the Chinese Language in the Foochow Dialect

• In sit-pro, abstain

  as a word·StarLing Tower of Babel etymological databases (Starostin et al.)

• In Japanese, The hiragana syllable ち (chi) or the katakana syllable チ (chi) in Hepburn romanization.

  as a word·kaikki.org Wiktionary extract (IPA + transliterations)

Ordered by how much of this spelling's record each language holds, so a sense from a language the name is barely used in sits last rather than first.

Over time●

US SSA — National Baby Names (1880–present) — 55 years between 1970–2025. One register's own figures, never a sum across registers: two registers counting the same people would double them.

Notable people with this name●

• Zhi Qianb. 101CNnot in their usual name3rd century Buddhist monk and translator active in the Kingdom of Wu
• Qi Baishib. 1864CNnot in their usual nameChinese painter (1864-1957)
• Chi Haotianb. 1929CNformer Minister of National Defense of China
• Johnnie Tob. 1955CNnot in their usual nameHong Kong filmmaker (born 1955)
• Chi Po-linb. 1964TWTaiwanese documentary filmmaker, photographer and environmentalist (1964-2017)
• Katherine Taib. 1974USnot in their usual nameAmerican attorney (born 1974)
• James Wanb. 1977MYnot in their usual nameMalaysian-Australian filmmaker (born 1977)
• Ji Xinpengb. 1977CNnot in their usual nameChinese badminton player
• Chi Pub. 1993VNVietnamese singer, actress, television personality and model (born 1993)
• Chou Tzuyub. 1999TWnot in their usual nameTaiwanese singer (born 1999)

The ten people covered by the most Wikipedia language editions — a proxy for cross-cultural notability, which favours historical and Western figures over equally prominent contemporary ones — shown by birth year. Source: Wikidata (CC0).

Evidence●

Register rows as of the 2026-09-12 data build · 412 rows in the corpus for this spelling.

Frequently asked questions

How common is the name Chi?

We estimate roughly 6.9 thousand people bear Chi (counting its spellings and scripts) across 8 countries in our records.

In which country does Chi have the most bearers?

Chi is most frequently recorded in Mexico, where it is most often spelled chi.

What does the name Chi mean?

Recorded meaning: synonym of sí (yes)