How common is the surname Chu?

28,508 people in the United States had the surname Chu in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 10,830 Americans. It ranked 1,238th of 162,253 surnames.

Who is the most famous person named Chu?

Jon M. Chu, American filmmaker, followed by Chu Guangxi.

Where is the surname Chu most common?

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

Is the surname Chu getting more or less common?

More common. 24,381 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 28,508 in 2010, up 17%.

The surname Chu

A Chinese surname, carried by 28,508 people in the United States.

Pronounced /tʃu/ 1 syllable Soundex C000

Every surname held by 100 or more people in the 2010 US Census, most common on the left (162,253 in all). Chu is more common than 99.2% of them.

Origin

Chinese origin

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

One of 193 Chinese surnames on this site.

Origin from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0).

How common it is

2010 US Census

There were 28,508 people named Chu in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 10,830 Americans. That is up 17% since 2000, when the Census counted 24,381.

#1,238

rank among US surnames

28,508

people in 2010

9.7

per 100,000 Americans

+16.9%

change since 2000 (was #1,328)

Rank	Surname	People	1 in
#1,229	Rankin	28,821	10,713
#1,230	Godfrey	28,734	10,745
#1,231	Chamberlain	28,727	10,748
#1,232	Fink	28,701	10,757
#1,233	Hollis	28,617	10,789
#1,234	Foreman	28,605	10,793
#1,235	Carranza	28,581	10,802

Who is named Chu

Race and Hispanic origin as people reported it in the 2010 Census

92% of people named Chu identified as Asian and Pacific Islander, 3.3% as two or more races and 2.6% as white (not Hispanic).

Asian and Pacific Islander 92%
Two or more races 3.3%
White (not Hispanic) 2.6%
Hispanic or Latino (any race) 1.7%

The Census suppresses very small shares to protect privacy; Black, Native American are not shown.

Compare: most common surnames among Asian and Pacific Islander Americans.

Famous Chus

2 notable people on Wikidata, most written-about first

Jon M. Chu
American filmmaker, born 1979
Chu Guangxi
A Tang Dynastic poet, 707–760

Notable Chus come mostly from the United States (1) and Tang dynasty (1).

Spellings and sound-alikes

Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling

Variant spellings

Surnames that sound like Chu

Chu has the Soundex code C000, the code US census indexes have used since the 1930s. Every surname with code C000.

Other Chinese surnames

All 193 Chinese surnames

Questions

Where does the surname Chu come from?: Typically, the Wade–Giles romanization of the common Mandarin 朱 (Zhū) Wade-Giles romanization: Chu¹.
How common is the surname Chu?: 28,508 people in the United States had the surname Chu in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 10,830 Americans. It ranked 1,238th of 162,253 surnames.
What ethnicity is the surname Chu?: In the 2010 Census, 92% of people named Chu identified as Asian and Pacific Islander, and 3.3% as two or more races.
Who is the most famous person named Chu?: Jon M. Chu, American filmmaker, followed by Chu Guangxi.
Where is the surname Chu most common?: Wikidata records people named Chu in the United States and Tang dynasty.
How do you pronounce Chu?: Chu is /tʃu/, one syllable.
Is the surname Chu getting more or less common?: More common. 24,381 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 28,508 in 2010, up 17%.
What are other spellings of Chu?: Zhu.