Explore the Family Name Be

The meaning of Be

1. Chinese: Teochew or Hokkien form of the surname 馬, see Ma 1. 2. Vietnamese (Bế): possibly from the Chinese surname 閉, see Bi 5.

Dictionary of American Family Names, 2nd edition, © Oxford University Press, 2022.

How common is the last name Be in the United States?

The popularity of the surname "Be" has notably increased according to data from the Decennial U.S. Census. In 2000, it was ranked as the 37,374th most popular surname, but by 2010, it had risen significantly to rank 22,450. This climb in rank represents a change of approximately 39.93%. Correspondingly, the count of individuals with this surname also grew from 561 in 2000 to 1,146 in 2010, marking an increase of over 104%. The proportion of people with the surname "Be" per 100,000 also saw an increase of 85.71% during the same period.

	2000	2010	Change
Rank	#37,374	#22,450	39.93%
Count	561	1,146	104.28%
Proportion per 100k	0.21	0.39	85.71%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Be

When it comes to the ethnic identity associated with the surname "Be", the Decennial U.S. Census data reveals some interesting shifts between 2000 and 2010. The percentage of individuals identifying as Asian/Pacific Islander with this surname increased from 46.52% to 60.82%, representing a change of 30.74%. However, the percentage of those reporting two or more races decreased by 45.29%, while the white population with this surname decreased by 32.65%. Similarly, there was a decrease in the Black and American Indian and Alaskan Native populations with this surname by 39.03% and 58.4% respectively. Conversely, the Hispanic population with this surname saw an increase of 42.57%.

	2000	2010	Change
Asian/Pacific Islander	46.52%	60.82%	30.74%
White	33.69%	22.69%	-32.65%
Hispanic	6.06%	8.64%	42.57%
Black	8.02%	4.89%	-39.03%
Two or More Races	4.46%	2.44%	-45.29%
American Indian and Alaskan Native	1.25%	0.52%	-58.4%