Yi is the Mandarin pinyin romanization of the Chinese surname written in Chinese characters, named after historical figure Hou Yi (not the similarly named and related mythological figure). It is romanized I in Wade–Giles. Yi is listed 210th in the Song dynasty classic text "Hundred Family Surnames". It is not among the 300 most common surnames in China in the present, with a noticeable lack of notable people compared to other surnames in the text.