# Wah (surname)

Source: https://namelineage.com/surname/wah/  
Publisher: Name Lineage. Counts from the US Census Bureau; origin and etymology from Wiktionary; bearers from Wikidata. Data updated 2026-11-11.

A surname.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Origin | Chinese |
| Type | not recorded |
| People in the US (2010 Census) | 1,550 |
| US rank (2010) | 18,007 of 162,253 |
| How often | about 1 in every 199,191 people |
| Change since 2000 | +231% (468 in 2000) |
| Pronunciation | not recorded |
| Variant spellings | none recorded |

## Etymology

Borrowed from Cantonese 華 /华 (waa6, waa4).

## Who carries it

Share of people named Wah 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) | 4.8% |
| Black (not Hispanic) | 13% |
| Hispanic or Latino (any race) | 2.6% |
| Asian and Pacific Islander | 75% |
| American Indian and Alaska Native | 1.2% |
| Two or more races | 4.0% |

## Similar surnames

Way, Wai, Wu, Woo, Wei, Wee.

## 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.