AAPI stands for Asian American and Pacific Islander, an umbrella term used in the United States for people with heritage in Asia and the Pacific Islands. A more specific form, AANHPI (Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander), names Native Hawaiians explicitly and was used in the 2021 presidential proclamation for the May heritage month.
Origin
The grouping comes from US government race categories. “Asian or Pacific Islander” was a race option in the 1990 and 2000 censuses, and a 1997 Office of Management and Budget directive split it into two categories: “Asian” and “Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander.” The Census Bureau still defines them separately today:
- Asian: a person having origins in any of the original peoples of the Far East, Southeast Asia, or the Indian subcontinent.
- Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander: a person having origins in any of the original peoples of Hawaii, Guam, Samoa, or other Pacific Islands.
Dictionary.com notes that the abbreviation AAPI has been used by the US government in some capacity since at least 1998, and that the term gained wider recognition in early 2021 amid a significant increase in reported violence and discrimination against AAPI individuals. That is the same period as #StopAsianHate.
AAPI vs AANHPI vs APIDA vs API
| Term | Stands for | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| AAPI | Asian American and Pacific Islander | Most common; used by US government since at least 1998 |
| AANHPI | Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander | Names Native Hawaiians; used in the 2021 heritage-month proclamation |
| APIDA | Asian Pacific Islander Desi American | Newer; gained usage in the 2010s; more inclusive of South Asians |
| API | Asian/Pacific Islander | Older form; the 1990 and 2000 census category |
| APA | Asian/Pacific American | Used in the official name “Asian/Pacific American Heritage Month” |
Definitions for AAPI and AANHPI are from Dictionary.com’s AAPI entry, APIDA from its APIDA entry, and API/APA from Wikipedia. Dictionary.com notes APIDA is somewhat less commonly used than AAPI.
Heritage Month Timeline
- October 5, 1978: President Jimmy Carter signed the joint resolution that became Public Law 95-419, creating Asian/Pacific American Heritage Week.
- 1990: Public Law 101-283 expanded the observance to a month for 1990.
- 1992: Public Law 102-450 annually designated May as Asian/Pacific American Heritage Month. May marks the immigration of the first Japanese to the United States on May 7, 1843, and the completion of the transcontinental railroad on May 10, 1869.
- May 1, 2009: President Barack Obama signed Proclamation 8369, recognizing May as Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month (Wikipedia).
- April 30, 2021: President Joe Biden signed Proclamation 10189, recognizing May as Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Heritage Month.
- 2025–2026: Wikipedia reports that Executive Order 14031 (2021) on Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders was revoked on January 20, 2025, and that heritage-month proclamations were still issued on May 16, 2025 and May 2, 2026.
The Population in Numbers
The Census Bureau’s May 2026 Facts for Features reports, from 2024 population estimates:
- 26.8 million Asian alone-or-in-combination residents. The largest group was Chinese (except Taiwanese), followed by Asian Indian (5.6 million), Filipino (5.0 million), Vietnamese (2.4 million), Korean (2.2 million) and Japanese (1.7 million).
- 1.8 million Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander alone-or-in-combination residents. Native Hawaiians (728,718) were the largest group, followed by Samoan (271,387) and Chamorro (167,504).
The Census Bureau presents the two populations in separate sections because OMB split them into two race categories in 1997. See also #AsianAmerican.
Sources
- https://www.dictionary.com/e/acronyms/aapi/
- https://www.dictionary.com/e/acronyms/apida/
- https://asianpacificheritage.gov/About
- https://www.census.gov/topics/population/race/about.html
- https://www.census.gov/newsroom/facts-for-features/2026/asian-american-pacific-islander.html
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asian_Pacific_Americans
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asian_American_and_Pacific_Islander_Heritage_Month