Start by comparing 佩 Pèi and 裴 Péi. 佩 preserves the first character and falling tone of 佩雷斯 Pèi léi sī, a documented Chinese transcription of Pérez. 裴 changes the character and uses a rising tone. Both have dictionary evidence as surnames. 沛 Pèi is another documented surname at the same sound and tone as 佩, while 石 Shí offers an indirect connection to the stone-related history of Pedro, the personal name behind Spanish Pérez.
These choices preserve different things. 佩 keeps a visible piece of the established transcription; 裴 and 沛 adjust that opening; 石 gives up the sound for a selected meaning. Keeping the full 佩雷斯 is also an option if shortening your surname would lose more than you want.
Start with your pronunciation and the full transcription
You do not need to use Spanish at home, have one particular ancestry, or pronounce your surname a prescribed way to use an English-language naming guide. Begin with the way you actually say Pérez or Perez. A written surname in a U.S. table cannot resolve that for you.
For a Spanish-language reference, the stress is on Pé-. Broad forms include /ˈpeɾes/ with seseo and /ˈpeɾeθ/ with a distinction between s and z. Seseo also occurs in parts of Spain, so the contrast is not simply “Spain versus everyone else.” These are reference forms derived from standard rules, not instructions to change your own speech. RAE explanation of seseo
The Chinese consular website uses 佩雷斯 alongside Pérez within a bilingual personal name. It supplies a checkable transcription. Mandarin pèi uses an aspirated p and a vowel sequence represented by ei; neither is an exact copy of the usual Spanish Pé-. Its falling tone is also different from Spanish word stress. If your family uses an English-language pronunciation, compare its actual opening rather than assuming that all Perez families sound alike. Transcription example, Mandarin initial-consonant guide
A single Pei surname drops 雷斯 and the sounds represented by the original -rez. It is a new short surname choice connected to Pérez, not another way to spell the complete original surname. You can display the original and Chinese names together in everyday bilingual use without pretending they are letter-for-letter equivalents.
佩 keeps the original character
佩 Pèi deserves to be considered on its own evidence. Zdic's detailed entry explicitly includes a surname sense under pèi. Its eligibility does not depend on assuming that any character used in a transcription must be a surname. 佩 entry
Choosing 佩 preserves both the first written character of 佩雷斯 and its fourth tone. The character also refers to an ornament worn on clothing and appears in words involving wearing or admiration. Those associations may appeal to you, but they are not the etymology of Pérez.
This is the direct choice when your explanation is “I kept the beginning of the Chinese transcription of my surname.” For a newly chosen full name, compare it seriously with 裴 rather than deciding from that fact alone. Ask someone to read the characters and identify the surname boundary: attested surname use does not guarantee that every combination will be immediately understood.
Do not substitute population evidence for a different written form. A registry entry for 珮 does not automatically provide counts or family readings for 佩. The reason for including 佩 here is the dictionary entry just cited.
裴 changes the tone and 沛 changes the writing
裴 Péi has an explicit surname sense under péi in the Ministry of Education dictionary. Compared with 佩, it keeps the consonant and vowel sequence while changing the falling fourth tone to a rising second tone. Its older clothing-related dictionary meaning does not need to become your personal story or a claim about every Pei family. 裴 entry
You might prefer the written character 裴 or the way the rising tone leads into your chosen given name. It is not more faithful to the published first character of 佩雷斯, because that character is 佩. Be clear about the distinction between retaining the original character and making a sound-based substitution.
沛 Pèi offers a same-tone substitution. The Ministry of Education's fuller dictionary entry explicitly places surname use under pèi and also records senses involving abundance or vigor. This is surname-and-reading evidence in one entry, rather than a surname list combined with an unrelated ordinary character pronunciation. 沛 entry
佩 and 沛 sound the same in standard Mandarin. If you prefer 沛 for its water component or the association in 充沛, that is a choice of writing and meaning; it does not make the sound closer to Pérez. You can explain it as 充沛的沛, “the 沛 in abundant.” Its dictionary surname history does not establish a link between your ancestors and any ancient Chinese family.
If you already prefer 培, its surname-character listing is separate from the ordinary péi reading and cultivation meanings. A direct surname-reading source is still needed before recommending it. The verified 佩, 裴 and 沛 choices already cover the main comparison.
石 follows the stone connection through Pedro
For Pérez of Spanish origin, the Dictionary of American Family Names derives the surname from Pedro. The Real Academia Galega links Pedro to Latin Petrus and petra, stone or rock, and explicitly connects that name with Pérez. The route is Pérez → Pedro → stone, not a direct translation of the whole surname. The surname dictionary records other histories under the same spelling too, so the Pedro explanation should not override what you know about your own family. Surname entry, Real Academia Galega entry
石 Shí has both the stone meaning and an explicit surname sense under shí. The same character also has a dàn reading used for units of measure; that is not the reading proposed for this surname. 石 entry
Choosing 石 gives you a concrete material image. You lose the Pei opening, the remaining sound of Pérez and the patronymic relationship. A precise explanation is: “I chose Shí for the stone association in the older name Pedro, from which my surname derives.” That preserves the two steps instead of claiming Pérez simply means stone.
Nothing in that chain makes all Pérez families stonemasons. Nor does it justify assigning them a Chinese ancient craft lineage or borrowing a famous Shi person's biography as a historical counterpart. The semantic connection is sufficient on its own when it is genuinely the connection you want.
Try the surname in the name you will actually use
My first comparison would be 佩 Pèi for literal retention and 裴 Péi for a different character and tone. Add 沛 Pèi if its writing or abundance association matters to you. Keep 培 qualified until the reading question is resolved. Choose 石 Shí when you knowingly prefer the indirect meaning route.
Put each finalist before the same Chinese given name. Say the whole sequence, write it, and ask a Chinese speaker to read it without being told which part is the surname. Check possible unintended word combinations and how easily you can explain the character. The distinctions in this article are for Mandarin; a different Chinese-language community may read them differently.
You can introduce 佩 with 我姓佩，佩雷斯的佩: “My surname is Pèi, the 佩 in Pèi léi sī.” If you choose 裴 or 沛, show the correct character rather than relying on toneless “Pei.” If you choose 石, describe its actual etymological link. A name you can explain accurately gives you a better basis for everyday use than an alleged perfect translation.
About the U.S. source number
The recorded U.S. source records PEREZ at rank 21, published frequency 680,712. These are 2020 Census data after disclosure-avoidance processing, released April 14, 2026 and captured October 4, 2026. They are not a current 2026 population count, and the data key is kept separate from a person's preferred accented spelling. U.S. Census source
Research and methodology notes
Sources used in this comparison: RAE explanation of seseo; 佩 entry; 裴 entry; 沛 entry; Surname-character list; ordinary character entry; 石 entry; Surname entry. Read each source within the limits of the passage where it is cited. A documented transcription, surname use and surname pronunciation are separate questions.
The comparison is framed by “Start with your pronunciation and the full transcription” and “佩 keeps the original character”. Sound resemblance, word meaning and a cultural association are different reasons for choosing a name; only the routes argued in this article are proposed, without inferring personal ancestry.
Any figures retain the source coverage and dates stated in the article; this comparison does not establish current worldwide frequency.
