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Name Lineage

    The surname To

    A Chinese surname, carried by 8,934 people in the United States.

    Pronounced /toʊ/ 1 syllable Soundex T000

    To: #3,979 of 162,253 surnames in the 2010 US Census #1Smith#160,975Doriott#10Martinez#100Jimenez#1,000Archer#10,001Dubon To #3,979, 8,934 people To: #3,979 of 162,253 surnames in the 2010 US Census #1Smith#160,975Doriott#100Jimenez To #3,979, 8,934 people
    Every surname held by 100 or more people in the 2010 US Census, most common on the left (162,253 in all). To is more common than 97.5% of them.

    Origin

    Chinese origin

    Borrowed from Cantonese 杜 (dou6), 陶 (tou4), 塗／涂 (tou4), 屠 (tou4), etc.

    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 8,934 people named To in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 34,558 Americans. That is up 28% since 2000, when the Census counted 6,979.

    #3,979
    rank among US surnames
    8,934
    people in 2010
    3.0
    per 100,000 Americans
    +28%
    change since 2000 (was #4,649)
    RankSurnamePeople1 in
    #3,970Canady8,95834,466
    #3,971Faircloth8,95434,481
    #3,972Batson8,95134,493
    #3,973Popp8,94734,508
    #3,974Dunne8,94134,531
    #3,975Keeling8,93834,543
    #3,976Teal8,93734,547

    Who is named To

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

    95% of people named To identified as Asian and Pacific Islander, 2.0% as white (not Hispanic) and 1.4% as two or more races.

    • Asian and Pacific Islander 95%
    • White (not Hispanic) 2.0%
    • Two or more races 1.4%
    • Hispanic or Latino (any race) 1.3%
    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 Tos

    1 notable person on Wikidata, most written-about first

    • Chapman To
      A well-known actor from Hong Kong who later moved to Taiwan and obtained Taiwanese citizen, born 1972

    Spellings and sound-alikes

    Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling

    Surnames that sound like To

    To has the Soundex code T000, the code US census indexes have used since the 1930s. Every surname with code T000.

    Other Chinese surnames

    All 193 Chinese surnames

    Questions

    Where does the surname To come from?
    Borrowed from Cantonese 杜 (dou6), 陶 (tou4), 塗／涂 (tou4), 屠 (tou4), etc.
    How common is the surname To?
    8,934 people in the United States had the surname To in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 34,558 Americans. It ranked 3,979th of 162,253 surnames.
    What ethnicity is the surname To?
    In the 2010 Census, 95% of people named To identified as Asian and Pacific Islander, and 2.0% as white (not Hispanic).
    Who is the most famous person named To?
    Chapman To, A well-known actor from Hong Kong who later moved to Taiwan and obtained Taiwanese citizen.
    Where is the surname To most common?
    Wikidata records people named To in British Hong Kong.
    How do you pronounce To?
    To is /toʊ/, one syllable.
    Is the surname To getting more or less common?
    More common. 6,979 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 8,934 in 2010, up 28%.