# Liu (surname)

Source: https://namelineage.com/surname/liu/  
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 Chinese.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Origin | Chinese |
| Type | not recorded |
| People in the US (2010 Census) | 78,370 |
| US rank (2010) | 411 of 162,253 |
| How often | about 1 in every 3,940 people |
| Change since 2000 | +64% (47,665 in 2000) |
| Pronunciation | /liˈoʊ/, 1 syllable |
| Variant spellings | none recorded |

## Etymology

From several Chinese surnames, including: * From Mandarin 劉 /刘 (liú). Doublet of Lau and Luu. * From Cantonese 廖 (liu⁶). Doublet of Liao.

## Who carries it

Share of people named Liu 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) | 1.8% |
| Black (not Hispanic) | 0.2% |
| Hispanic or Latino (any race) | 0.5% |
| Asian and Pacific Islander | 96% |
| American Indian and Alaska Native | 0.0% |
| Two or more races | 1.9% |

## Where

Wikidata records people named Liu in the United States, the People's Republic of China, Taiwan, Qing dynasty, Australia and Austria.

## People named Liu

- Lucy Liu, American actress (born 1968)
- Liu Shaoqi, 2nd President of the People's Republic of China (1898–1969)
- Alysa Liu, American figure skater (born 2005)
- Natasha Liu Bordizzo, Australian actress
- Dallas Liu, American actor
- Liu Ming-huang, archer
- Havana Rose Liu, American model and actress
- Liu Jia, Austrian table tennis player
- Marjorie Liu, American writer
- Liu Yan, 1st century Chinese general who led an uprising against Xin Dynasty
- Liu Kun, 14th Minister of Finance of the People's Republic of China
- Liu Bao, 3rd century Xiongnu chanyu

and 8 more on Wikidata.

## Similar surnames

Li, Lieu, Lie, Liou, Lee, Le, Lowe, Lu, Law, Ly, Lau, Lai.

## 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.