# Chew (surname)

Source: https://namelineage.com/surname/chew/  
Publisher: Name Lineage. Counts from the US Census Bureau; origin and etymology from Wiktionary; bearers from Wikidata. Data updated 2026-11-11.

A surname.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Origin | Chinese |
| Type | patronymic, formed from a father’s (or ancestor’s) given name |
| People in the US (2010 Census) | 8,905 |
| US rank (2010) | 3,988 of 162,253 |
| How often | about 1 in every 34,671 people |
| Change since 2000 | +4.6% (8,516 in 2000) |
| Pronunciation | not recorded |
| Variant spellings | none recorded |

## Etymology

* As an English surname, Chew has a number of separate origins: ** A toponymic surname referring to a place in Billington, Lancashire. It was originally spelled Cho, from Middle English cho, which is possibly a descendant of Old English *cēo (“gill”), denoting a ravine. ** A toponymic surname referring to Chew Magna or Chew Stoke in Somerset, England. ** A nickname from Old English ċīo, ċēo, which refers to smaller chattering species of crow, in particular the red-billed chough. * As a Chinese surname, borrowed from Hokkien 周 (Chiu), Teochew 周 (ziu1), Cantonese 趙／赵 (ziu6), etc.

## Who carries it

Share of people named Chew in the 2010 US Census by the Census's own race and ethnicity groups. The Census suppresses a share when the count behind it is small.

| Group | Share |
|---|---|
| White (not Hispanic) | 38% |
| Black (not Hispanic) | 15% |
| Hispanic or Latino (any race) | 3.9% |
| Asian and Pacific Islander | 40% |
| American Indian and Alaska Native | 0.5% |
| Two or more races | 3.7% |

## Where

Wikidata records people named Chew in the United States.

## People named Chew

- Geoffrey Chew, American theoretical physicist (1924–2019)
- Phillip Chew, badminton player
- Richard Chew, American Film Editor
- Robert F. Chew, American actor (1960–2013)
- Ryan Chew, badminton player

## Similar surnames

Chow, Choe, Chee, Chea, Chae, Che, Choi, Cho, Chu, Cao, Coe, Chau.

## How to read these numbers

A Census count is people alive and counted in 2010, not births, and names occurring fewer than 100 times are not published at all. Ethnicity shares are the Census's own categories.