# Jew (surname)

Source: https://namelineage.com/surname/jew/  
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 | French |
| Type | not recorded |
| People in the US (2010 Census) | 1,424 |
| US rank (2010) | 19,105 of 162,253 |
| How often | about 1 in every 216,816 people |
| Change since 2000 | +2.4% (1,390 in 2000) |
| Pronunciation | /d͡ʒuː/, 1 syllable |
| Variant spellings | Joo |

## Etymology

From Middle English Jew, Giu, Giw, Ju, from Old French juiu, Giu, gyu, from Latin iūdaeus (“Judean (i.e. Jew)”), from Ancient Greek Ἰουδαῖος (Ioudaîos), from Ἰουδά (Ioudá), Ἰούδας (Ioúdas, “Judah, Judas, Jude”) + -ιος (-ios, suffix forming adjectives), from Biblical Hebrew יְהוּדָה (y'hudá, “male given name, Yehuda; Judah, Judea”). Doublet of Yid. The ending -ew underwent a similar evolution to that seen in Hebrew (ultimately from Latin Hebraeus) and Bartholomew (from Latin Bartholomaeus), albeit with loss of the -ud-. Displaced Old English Iūdēisċ.

## Who carries it

Share of people named Jew 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) | 7.7% |
| Hispanic or Latino (any race) | 4.2% |
| Asian and Pacific Islander | 79% |
| Two or more races | 5.6% |

## Similar surnames

Joy, Jay, Joe, Ji, Jo, Joo, Joya, Ju, Jia, Jha, Jue, Joye.

## 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.