How common is the surname Liu?

78,370 people in the United States had the surname Liu in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 3,940 Americans. It ranked 411th of 162,253 surnames.

Who is the most famous person named Liu?

Lucy Liu, American actress (born 1968), followed by Liu Shaoqi.

Where is the surname Liu most common?

Wikidata records people named Liu in the United States, the People's Republic of China and Taiwan and 3 other countries.

How do you pronounce Liu?

Liu is /liˈoʊ/, one syllable.

Is the surname Liu getting more or less common?

More common. 47,665 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 78,370 in 2010, up 64%.

The surname Liu

A Chinese surname, carried by 78,370 people in the United States.

Pronounced /liˈoʊ/ 1 syllable Soundex L000

Every surname held by 100 or more people in the 2010 US Census, most common on the left (162,253 in all). Liu is more common than 99.7% of them.

Origin

Chinese origin

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

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 78,370 people named Liu in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 3,940 Americans. That is up 64% since 2000, when the Census counted 47,665.

#411

rank among US surnames

78,370

people in 2010

per 100,000 Americans

+64.4%

change since 2000 (was #650)

Rank	Surname	People	1 in
#402	Lin	79,508	3,883
#403	Cummings	79,316	3,893
#404	Chandler	79,186	3,899
#405	Sharp	78,990	3,909
#406	Barber	78,848	3,916
#407	Bowen	78,822	3,917
#408	Ochoa	78,677	3,924

Who is named Liu

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

96% of people named Liu identified as Asian and Pacific Islander, 1.9% as two or more races and 1.8% as white (not Hispanic).

Asian and Pacific Islander 96%
Two or more races 1.9%
White (not Hispanic) 1.8%
Hispanic or Latino (any race) 0.5%
Black (not Hispanic) 0.2%
American Indian and Alaska Native 0.0%

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

Famous Lius

20 notable people on Wikidata, most written-about first

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, born 1994
Dallas Liu
American actor, born 2001
Liu Ming-huang
Archer, born 1984
Havana Rose Liu
American model and actress, born 1997
Liu Jia
Austrian table tennis player, born 1982
Marjorie Liu
American writer, born 1979
Liu Yan
1st century Chinese general who led an uprising against Xin Dynasty, -100–23
Liu Kun
14th Minister of Finance of the People's Republic of China, born 1956
Liu Bao
3rd century Xiongnu chanyu

Notable Lius come mostly from the United States (7), the People's Republic of China (3) and Taiwan (2).

Spellings and sound-alikes

Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling

Surnames that sound like Liu

Liu has the Soundex code L000, the code US census indexes have used since the 1930s. Every surname with code L000.

Other Chinese surnames

All 193 Chinese surnames

Questions

Where does the surname Liu come from?: From several Chinese surnames, including: * From Mandarin 劉 /刘 (liú). Doublet of Lau and Luu. * From Cantonese 廖 (liu⁶). Doublet of Liao.
How common is the surname Liu?: 78,370 people in the United States had the surname Liu in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 3,940 Americans. It ranked 411th of 162,253 surnames.
What ethnicity is the surname Liu?: In the 2010 Census, 96% of people named Liu identified as Asian and Pacific Islander, and 1.9% as two or more races.
Who is the most famous person named Liu?: Lucy Liu, American actress (born 1968), followed by Liu Shaoqi.
Where is the surname Liu most common?: Wikidata records people named Liu in the United States, the People's Republic of China and Taiwan and 3 other countries.
How do you pronounce Liu?: Liu is /liˈoʊ/, one syllable.
Is the surname Liu getting more or less common?: More common. 47,665 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 78,370 in 2010, up 64%.