Tee (surname)

Tee is an English and Chinese surname

Origins
As an English surname, Tee originates in two ways:

 As a variant spelling of Tye, a locative surname from Middle English  'at the enclosure'
 Also as a locative surname, from an erroneous rebracketing of  'at the stream'

Tee may also be the spelling of multiple Chinese surnames, based on their pronunciation in different varieties of Chinese; they are listed below by their spelling in Hanyu Pinyin, which reflects the standard Mandarin pronunciation:
Zhèng (), spelled Tee based on its Hokkien pronunciation (; IPA: , with nasalisation of the vowel). This spelling is found for example among overseas Chinese communities in Malaysia, in the Philippines, and in Singapore.
Chí (), spelled Tee based on its Hokkien pronunciation (; IPA: ; without the nasalised vowel of the above surname). This spelling is found for example in Singapore.
Dài (), spelled Tee based on its pronunciation in Hokkien (; IPA: ) or Teochew (Peng'im: ; IPA: ). This spelling is found for example in Indonesia.
Shī (), spelled Tee based on its Hainanese pronunciation (Hainanese Transliteration Scheme: ). This spelling is found for example in Singapore.

Statistics
According to statistics compiled by Patrick Hanks on the basis of the 2011 United Kingdom census and the Census of Ireland 2011, 1,065 people on the island of Great Britain and 10 on the island of Ireland bore the surname Tee as of 2011. In the 1881 United Kingdom census there had been 583 people with the surname Tee, primarily at Hampshire, Northamptonshire, and Sussex. The 2010 United States Census found 1,557 people with the surname Tee, making it the 17,951st-most-common name in the country. This represented an increase from 1,381 (18,461st most-common) in the 2000 Census. In the 2010 census, roughly half of the bearers of the surname identified as non-Hispanic Asian, three-tenths as non-Hispanic white, and one-tenth as non-Hispanic Black or African American.

People with the surname
Elsa Tee (1917–2006), British actress
Tee Tua Ba (; born 1942), former Commissioner of Police of Singapore
Tee Hock Seng (; born 1949), Malaysian businessman
Nicholas Tee (born 1949), British rower
Tee Siew Kiong (; born ), Malaysian politician (Malaysian Chinese Association)
Brian Tee (politician) (born 1969), Australian politician
Tee Boon Tsong (; born ), Malaysian politician (Democratic Action Party)
Hayden Tee (born ), New Zealand actor
Benjamin Tee (born ), Singaporean electronic engineer
Rosenthal Tee (born ), Philippine fashion designer
Tee Jing Yi (; born 1991), Malaysian badminton player
Tee Kai Wun (; born 2000), Malaysian badminton player
Matt Tee (), British civil servant
Markwin Tee (), Philippine ten-pin bowler

Stage name or other professional name
Richard Tee (Richard Edward Ten Ryk; 1943–1993), American singer and pianist
Willie Tee (Wilson Turbinton; 1944–2007), American keyboardist
Larry Tee (Lawrence Thom; born 1959), American DJ
Tommy Tee (Tommy Flåten; born 1971), Norwegian record producer
Brian Tee (Jae-beom Takata; born 1977), American actor
Gilmore Tee (Gilmore Qhawe Khumalo; born 1990), Zimbabwean media figure
Howie Tee (Howard Thompson; ), American DJ
Jay Tee (James Trujillo; ), American rapper

See also
Helen Damrosch Tee-Van (1893–1976), American illustrator
John Tee-Van (1897–1967), American ichthyologist and zoologist
Joseph Woah-Tee (1948–2009), Liberian politician
Cindy McTee (born 1953), American composer

References

English-language surnames
Hokkien-language surnames
Multiple Chinese surnames