The surname "郤" ranks 305th in the "Hundred Surnames". It was outside the top 300 in the national surname population ranking in 2007.

"The surname '郤' is a relatively rare surname today. It is distributed in areas such as Weixian in Hebei Province, Taiyuan, Yangquan, Shuozhou, Changzhi, Linfen in Shanxi Province, Hancheng in Shaanxi Province, Sandu in Guizhou, Longchuan in Yunnan, etc. The surname is present among Han, Miao, and other ethnic groups. The 'Continuation of Tongzhi · Clan Notes' also records it, classifying it under the 'entering sound' section. According to 'The Notes on Surname Origins', 'Xī' (the pronunciation of '郤') is commonly written as 'Qie'. 'Xī' is a surname of the Ji clan. An official of the Jin state, who received his fief in 'Xī', used the name of the fief as his surname. Its main residence was in Jiyin and Shanyang. 'Xī' was located in the area around the lower reaches of the Qingshui River today. Note: 'Qingshui' is written as 'Mishui' in 'The Complete Dictionary of Chinese Surnames', which is incorrect. In the Spring and Autumn period, Jin had Xī Wen, whose son was Bao; Bao's son was Rui, and Rui's son was Que. During the Three Kingdoms period, Shu had Xī Zheng; in the Ming Dynasty, there was Xī Zhong, a Jinshi in the Hongwu era; and Xī Xiang, a person from Xing Tang, known for his filial piety.

Fewer than 80,000 people. Known as "Xīzi", his descendants took the name of the fief as their surname, becoming the "Xī" family. Later, during the era of the three Xī families, they were exterminated. Ranked 305th in the "Hundred Surnames", the current national population is fewer than 80,000, and the surname population ranking is after 400th place.

Although the population of the surname "Xī" is not large, it is distributed in various parts of the country, including Shanxi, Hebei, Shaanxi, Heilongjiang, Inner Mongolia, Beijing, Jiangxi, Hubei, Shanghai, Jiangsu, Anhui, Zhejiang, Guizhou, Yunnan, Guangdong, and Guangxi.