# Chu (surname)

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

A surname from Mandarin.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Origin | Chinese |
| Type | not recorded |
| People in the US (2010 Census) | 28,508 |
| US rank (2010) | 1,238 of 162,253 |
| How often | about 1 in every 10,830 people |
| Change since 2000 | +17% (24,381 in 2000) |
| Pronunciation | /tʃu/, 1 syllable |
| Variant spellings | Zhu |

## Etymology

Typically, the Wade–Giles romanization of the common Mandarin 朱 (Zhū) Wade-Giles romanization: Chu¹.

## Who carries it

Share of people named Chu 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) | 2.6% |
| Hispanic or Latino (any race) | 1.7% |
| Asian and Pacific Islander | 92% |
| Two or more races | 3.3% |

## Where

Wikidata records people named Chu in the United States and Tang dynasty.

## People named Chu

- Jon M. Chu, American filmmaker
- Chu Guangxi, a Tang Dynastic poet

## Similar surnames

Cho, Chau, Chiu, Chou, Cha, Chi, Chua, Che, Chui, Choi, Cao, Coe.

## 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.