A simple lookup on Wikipedia proves your "simple fact" wrong, so I don't understand what you're arguing against here. As posted by someone else to prove me wrong:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_common_Chinese_surname...Xiè is the 23rd most common name, Xià is the 65th most common one. There's plenty of others who are very similar, but the pronunciation will be much different, so I'm skipping those.
But when you just need to argue semantics to make your point, perhaps your point isn't that strong at all. And honestly, the spelling of "Xi" has indeed nothing to do with my argument, it was the deeper point that is at issue. I.e. the ongoing abuse towards Asians, naming the virus Xi simply would fuel it.
