Li is a common transliteration

Transliteration

Transliteration is a subset of the science of hermeneutics. It is a form of translation, and is the practice of converting a text from one script into another...

 of several Chinese family names, including 李 (pinyin

Pinyin

Pinyin is the official system to transcribe Chinese characters into the Roman alphabet in China, Malaysia, Singapore and Taiwan. It is also often used to teach Mandarin Chinese and spell Chinese names in foreign publications and used as an input method to enter Chinese characters into...

: Lǐ), the most common Chinese family name, and the Korean family name Lee. Alternate Romanizations include Lai (Cantonese for the surname 黎), Lý (Vietnam), Lí (Vietnam), Lee (Hong Kong, Taiwan, Korea, Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore), Lei (Macau), Lie (Indonesia), and Lê (Vietnam). Taken collectively, these surnames make Li the most common surname in the world.

Surnames transliterated as Li:

• 黎 (pinyin: Lí)
• 李, 理 and 里 (pinyin: Lǐ)
• 郦, 酈, 栗, 厉, 厲, 莉, and 利 (pinyin: Lì)

According to an unofficial count undertaken by the American company infoUSA

InfoUSA

Infogroup, Inc., is a data, research and marketing company which offers email marketing and other marketing services. The company's corporate headquarters are located in Papillion, Nebraska. Infogroup employs approximately 3,200 people and operates in 9 countries.- History :Infogroup was formed in...

, "Li" is the most common surname found in Canadian telephone directories.