Tai (surname)

Tai is a surname in various cultures.

Arabic
Tai or al-Ta'i, at-Ta'i (الطائي), also spelled al-Ta'i or at-Ta'iy, is an Arabic name. In ancient times it originated as a nisba indicating affiliation with the Tayy tribe.


 * Hatim al-Tai (Hatem ibn Abdellah ibn Sa'ad at-Ta'iy, died 578), Arab poet
 * Dawud Tai (Abu Solaiman Dawud ibn Nosair al-Ta'i, died 770s or 780s), Sufi mystic
 * Sultan Hashim Ahmad al-Tai (1945–2020), Iraqi Minister of Defense under Saddam Hussein
 * Ashraf Tai, Burmese-born Pakistani martial artist who states that he is a descendant of Hatim al-Tai

Chinese
Tái is the Pinyin romanisation of the Chinese surname written using the character. According to traditional stories recorded in the Shuowen Jiezi, it originated as a toponymic surname referring to the city by the same name.


 * Tai Chih-yuan (邰智源; born 1965), Taiwanese comedian
 * Samuel Tai (邰正宵; born 1966), Hong Kong-born Taiwan singer

Tái is also the Pinyin romanisation of the Chinese surname written using the character.


 * Tai Xiaohu (台晓虎; born 1998), Chinese diver

Tai may also be the Wade-Giles transcription of Dai (戴); see that page for people with that Chinese surname.


 * People
 * Tai Beng Hai (born 1965), Malaysian field hockey player
 * Tai Chen-yao (1948–2017), Taiwanese politician
 * Tai Cheuk-yin, Hong Kong politician
 * Tai Chih-yuan (born 1965), Taiwanese comedian
 * Tai Hung-hsu (born 1987), Taiwanese football skier
 * Tai An Khang (born 1994), Malaysian badminton player
 * Tai Tak-fung (born 1948), Chinese political figure
 * Tai Tzu-ying (born 1994), Taiwanese badminton player
 * Tai William (born 1997), Taiwanese speed skater
 * Tai Xiaohu (born 1998), Chinese diver

Japanese
As a Japanese surname, Tai could be written with the single characters, , , or , as well as numerous two-character combinations from one character read ta (e.g. , ) and another read i (e.g. on-yomi of or kun-yomi of  or ). People with these surnames include:


 * Ichiro Tai, Japanese electrical engineer
 * Miyuki Tai (born 1980), Japanese badminton player
 * Yūki Tai (泰 勇気), Japanese voice actor

Korean
Tai is an alternative spelling of the Korean surname Tae. In a study by the National Institute of the Korean Language based on 2007 application data for South Korean passports, it was found that 28.5% of people with that surname spelled it in Latin letters as Tai in their passports, vs. 57.1% as Tae.

Other

 * António Taí (born 1948), Portuguese footballer
 * Eric Tai (born 1964), New Zealand actor of Tongan descent
 * Katherine Tai, American diplomat
 * Kobe Tai (born 1972), stage name of an American pornographic actress of Asian descent, changed from Coby Ty to sound "more ethnic" for marketing purposes
 * Daniel Tai (born 1977), New Zealand boxer
 * Jordan Tai (born 1982), New Zealand boxer and kickboxer
 * Soaeb Tai (born 1989), Indian cricketer