Explore the Family Name Ri

The meaning of Ri

1. Japanese: written 李 ‘plum’. Both Chinese and Korean in origin, from the names Li and Yi respectively (compare 2 below). 2. Korean: variant of Yi 1. Compare Ree 3, Reeh 2, Rhee 1.

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

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

Based on the Decennial U.S. Census, the popularity of the surname "Ri" has significantly increased from 2000 to 2010. In 2000, the rank of the surname was 73,154, which improved to 58,337 in 2010, indicating a rise of 20.25%. Similarly, the count of individuals with the surname Ri also saw a substantial increase of 40.89% during the same period, moving from 247 to 348. The proportion of the surname per 100,000 people grew by 33.33%, from 0.09 to 0.12.

	2000	2010	Change
Rank	#73,154	#58,337	20.25%
Count	247	348	40.89%
Proportion per 100k	0.09	0.12	33.33%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Ri

In terms of ethnicity, the data from the Decennial U.S. Census shows that a majority of those with the surname 'Ri' identify as Asian/Pacific Islander or White. From 2000 to 2010, the percentage of individuals identifying as Asian/Pacific Islander increased by 7.91%, reaching 42.82%. Similarly, the percentage of those identifying as White rose by 6.04%, amounting to 36.49% in 2010. Meanwhile, the percentage of Hispanic individuals saw a slight increase of 6.42%, making up 12.93% in 2010. On the other hand, there was a notable decrease in the number of people identifying as Black, dropping substantially by 44.47% to 5.17% in 2010. The data for those identifying with two or more ethnicities and American Indian and Alaskan Native were suppressed for privacy reasons.

	2000	2010	Change
Asian/Pacific Islander	39.68%	42.82%	7.91%
White	34.41%	36.49%	6.04%
Hispanic	12.15%	12.93%	6.42%
Black	9.31%	5.17%	-44.47%
Two or More Races	4.45%	0%	0%
American Indian and Alaskan Native	0%	0%	0%