How common is the surname Tu?

9,230 people in the United States had the surname Tu in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 33,450 Americans. It ranked 3,835th of 162,253 surnames.

Who is the most famous person named Tu?

Meilen Tu, American tennis player, followed by Li Tu.

Where is the surname Tu most common?

Wikidata records people named Tu in the United States and Australia.

Is the surname Tu getting more or less common?

More common. 6,826 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 9,230 in 2010, up 35%.

The surname Tu

A Chinese surname, carried by 9,230 people in the United States.

1 syllable Soundex T000

Every surname held by 100 or more people in the 2010 US Census, most common on the left (162,253 in all). Tu is more common than 97.6% of them.

Origin

Chinese origin

Borrowed from Chinese. Most likely from the Hanyu Pinyin romanization of Mandarin 屠 (Tú) or 涂 (Tú).

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 9,230 people named Tu in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 33,450 Americans. That is up 35% since 2000, when the Census counted 6,826.

#3,835

rank among US surnames

9,230

people in 2010

3.1

per 100,000 Americans

+35.2%

change since 2000 (was #4,745)

Rank	Surname	People	1 in
#3,826	Fitzsimmons	9,260	33,342
#3,827	Luis	9,255	33,360
#3,828	Bobo	9,254	33,363
#3,829	Rueda	9,253	33,367
#3,830	Headley	9,250	33,378
#3,831	Horst	9,245	33,396
#3,832	Sturm	9,242	33,407

Who is named Tu

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

94% of people named Tu identified as Asian and Pacific Islander, 2.3% as two or more races and 1.9% as white (not Hispanic).

Asian and Pacific Islander 94%
Two or more races 2.3%
White (not Hispanic) 1.9%
Hispanic or Latino (any race) 1.5%

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 Tus

2 notable people on Wikidata, most written-about first

Meilen Tu
American tennis player, born 1978
Li Tu
Australian tennis player, born 1996

Notable Tus come mostly from the United States (1) and Australia (1).

Spellings and sound-alikes

Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling

Surnames that sound like Tu

Tuohy

Tu 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 Tu come from?: Borrowed from Chinese. Most likely from the Hanyu Pinyin romanization of Mandarin 屠 (Tú) or 涂 (Tú).
How common is the surname Tu?: 9,230 people in the United States had the surname Tu in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 33,450 Americans. It ranked 3,835th of 162,253 surnames.
What ethnicity is the surname Tu?: In the 2010 Census, 94% of people named Tu identified as Asian and Pacific Islander, and 2.3% as two or more races.
Who is the most famous person named Tu?: Meilen Tu, American tennis player, followed by Li Tu.
Where is the surname Tu most common?: Wikidata records people named Tu in the United States and Australia.
Is the surname Tu getting more or less common?: More common. 6,826 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 9,230 in 2010, up 35%.