Xi: meaning, origin & popularity

Meaning & origin

Where it comes from

Xi comes from Mandarin.

The story

Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 2014. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin.

From dated birth records

Xi through the years

Babies since 1880: 99; 52 boys · 47 girls
Most popular year: 2019; 16 babies
2025: 8; #9,668 for boys
2021–25 vs 2016–20: +51%; Rising fast

Boys Girls

Xi in U.S. Social Security birth records, 2014–2025, per million births of each sex. Years with fewer than five births for a sex are not published and appear as zero. Use the arrow keys to step through years.

By the numbers

In 2025, this name appeared in 8 U.S. birth records for boys, ranking No. 9,668 among boys’ names. The recent annual counts are too incomplete to establish a ten-year comparison. Its largest published annual count for boys was 10 in 2019. Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 3,581 as a first name in 2020; 1,588 as a surname in 2020.

From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.

Xi’s family of names

In English usage, Xi as a surname has a conventional equivalent in the Uzbek form Si. In English usage, Xi as a surname has a related form in HSI. In Vietnamese usage, Xi as a surname has a conventional equivalent in the English form HSI.

Walk Xi’s family in the name graph

Inner ring: spellings · middle: nicknames and forms · outer: across languages.

Hover or tab through the constellation to see how each name is related. Bigger dots are names more people in the U.S. share.

Around the world

Xi has relatives in 18 languages. Lines run from its Chinese roots to each of them.

Chinesewhere Xi comes from · 8 names

Each dot marks where a language is rooted, not where people with the name live today. Bigger dots hold more names. Language locations from Glottolog (CC BY 4.0); map from Natural Earth.

Nicknames & forms 7

Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.

Spellings & scripts 1

The same name written differently, including transliterations into other scripts.

Ksilikely spelling

Across languages 31

Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.

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People named Xi

Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.

Similar names

If you love Xi, these share its style, era, origin or sound, from outside its own family.

Chinese · Modern

Sibling ideas

Names that share Xi’s feel without repeating its first letter or rhyming with it.

A brother for Xi

A sister for Xi

Your shortlist

Xi