The surname Wei originated from the State of Wei in the early Western Zhou Dynasty, and the surname Wei is mainly distributed in Hebei, Sichuan and Henan provinces
The Wei surname, one of the six ministers of the Jin State, is the 44th surname in contemporary China's population and the 30th in the Song Dynasty's "Hundred Surnames". The surname Wei originated from the Wei State, an earl and vassal state with the surname Ji, which was granted by King Cheng of Zhou in the early Western Zhou Dynasty. The place of conferment was north of Ruicheng County, Shanxi Province. After the State of Wei was destroyed by the State of Jin, it was granted to the senior official Bi Wan. Later generations took the capital as their surname, and respected Bi Wan as the ancestor of their surname.
As of 2013, the population of Wei accounted for about 0.45% of China's population, with a total population of about 5.7 million. It is mainly concentrated in Henan, Sichuan and Hebei provinces, accounting for about 28% of the total population of Wei. By 2020, the surname Wei ranked 45th nationwide