How common is the surname Shu?

2,447 people in the United States had the surname Shu in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 126,173 Americans. It ranked 12,644th of 162,253 surnames.

Is the surname Shu getting more or less common?

More common. 1,892 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 2,447 in 2010, up 29%.

Is Shu also a first name?

Yes. Shu is used as a first name as well as a surname; its first-name page has the meaning and how many babies were given it.

The surname Shu

A surname, carried by 2,447 people in the United States.

1 syllable Soundex S000

Every surname held by 100 or more people in the 2010 US Census, most common on the left (162,253 in all). Shu is more common than 92.2% of them.

Origin

From atonal romanization of the Mandarin pronunciation of various Chinese surnames, including those variously romanized as Xu or Hsu whose separate sound /ɕ/ is conflated with /ʃ/ by English speakers.

Origin from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0).

How common it is

2010 US Census

There were 2,447 people named Shu in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 126,173 Americans. That is up 29% since 2000, when the Census counted 1,892.

#12,644

rank among US surnames

2,447

people in 2010

0.8

per 100,000 Americans

+29.3%

change since 2000 (was #14,467)

Rank	Surname	People	1 in
#12,636	Mayor	2,450	126,019
#12,637	Geissler	2,449	126,070
#12,642	Imes	2,448	126,122
#12,644	Konopka	2,447	126,173
#12,649	Calero	2,446	126,225
#12,652	Fullen	2,445	126,276

Who is named Shu

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

91% of people named Shu identified as Asian and Pacific Islander, 4.3% as white (not Hispanic) and 2.9% as two or more races.

Asian and Pacific Islander 91%
White (not Hispanic) 4.3%
Two or more races 2.9%
Black (not Hispanic) 1.4%

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

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

Spellings and sound-alikes

Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling

Variant spellings

Shuh

Surnames that sound like Shu

Shu has the Soundex code S000, the code US census indexes have used since the 1930s. Every surname with code S000.

Questions

Where does the surname Shu come from?: From atonal romanization of the Mandarin pronunciation of various Chinese surnames, including those variously romanized as Xu or Hsu whose separate sound /ɕ/ is conflated with /ʃ/ by English speakers.
How common is the surname Shu?: 2,447 people in the United States had the surname Shu in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 126,173 Americans. It ranked 12,644th of 162,253 surnames.
What ethnicity is the surname Shu?: In the 2010 Census, 91% of people named Shu identified as Asian and Pacific Islander, and 4.3% as white (not Hispanic).
Is the surname Shu getting more or less common?: More common. 1,892 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 2,447 in 2010, up 29%.
What are other spellings of Shu?: Shuh.
Is Shu also a first name?: Yes. Shu is used as a first name as well as a surname; its first-name page has the meaning and how many babies were given it.