How common is the surname Xu?

25,622 people in the United States had the surname Xu in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 12,050 Americans. It ranked 1,381st of 162,253 surnames.

Who is the most famous person named Xu?

Timmy Xu Wei Zhou, actor, musician and model from China, followed by Xu Huaiwen.

Where is the surname Xu most common?

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

Is the surname Xu getting more or less common?

More common. 12,228 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 25,622 in 2010, up 110%.

Is Xu also a first name?

Yes. Xu 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 Xu

A Chinese surname, carried by 25,622 people in the United States.

Pronounced /ʃuː/ 1 syllable Soundex X000

Every surname held by 100 or more people in the 2010 US Census, most common on the left (162,253 in all). Xu is more common than 99.1% of them.

Origin

Chinese origin

From the Hanyu Pinyin romanization of Mandarin 徐 (Xú) or 許 /许.

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 25,622 people named Xu in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 12,050 Americans. That is up 110% since 2000, when the Census counted 12,228.

#1,381

rank among US surnames

25,622

people in 2010

8.7

per 100,000 Americans

+109.5%

change since 2000 (was #2,701)

Rank	Surname	People	1 in
#1,372	Quezada	25,752	11,989
#1,373	Ott	25,738	11,996
#1,374	Ocampo	25,720	12,004
#1,375	Aviles	25,716	12,006
#1,376	Nieto	25,701	12,013
#1,377	Ervin	25,698	12,014
#1,378	Gore	25,648	12,038

Who is named Xu

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

98% of people named Xu identified as Asian and Pacific Islander.

Asian and Pacific Islander 98%
White (not Hispanic) 0.8%
Two or more races 0.6%
Hispanic or Latino (any race) 0.2%
Black (not Hispanic) 0.1%
American Indian and Alaska Native 0.0%

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

Famous Xus

10 notable people on Wikidata, most written-about first

Timmy Xu Wei Zhou
Actor, musician and model from China, born 1994
Xu Huaiwen
Badminton player, born 1975
Xu Shu
3rd century Chinese state of Cao Wei official, 101–201
Xu You
Advisor to warlords Yuan Shao and Cao Cao (died 204)
Xu Zechen
Author and writer, born 1978
Annie Xu
Badminton player, born 1999
Frank Shu
American astronomer (1943–2023)
Mugaku Sogen
13th century Zen Buddhist monk, 1226–1286
Heo Im
17th century Korean acupuncturist, 1570–1647
Feng-hsiung Hsu
American computer scientist (born 1959)

Notable Xus come mostly from the People's Republic of China (3), the United States (2) and Cao Wei (1).

Spellings and sound-alikes

Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling

Variant spellings

Hsu
Hsü
Sheu
Syu

Surnames that sound like Xu

Xu has the Soundex code X000, the code US census indexes have used since the 1930s. Every surname with code X000.

Other Chinese surnames

All 193 Chinese surnames

Questions

Where does the surname Xu come from?: From the Hanyu Pinyin romanization of Mandarin 徐 (Xú) or 許 /许.
How common is the surname Xu?: 25,622 people in the United States had the surname Xu in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 12,050 Americans. It ranked 1,381st of 162,253 surnames.
What ethnicity is the surname Xu?: In the 2010 Census, 98% of people named Xu identified as Asian and Pacific Islander, and 0.8% as white (not Hispanic).
Who is the most famous person named Xu?: Timmy Xu Wei Zhou, actor, musician and model from China, followed by Xu Huaiwen.
Where is the surname Xu most common?: Wikidata records people named Xu in the People's Republic of China, the United States and Cao Wei and 3 other countries.
How do you pronounce Xu?: Xu is /ʃuː/, one syllable.
Is the surname Xu getting more or less common?: More common. 12,228 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 25,622 in 2010, up 110%.
What are other spellings of Xu?: Hsu, Hsü, Sheu and Syu.
Is Xu also a first name?: Yes. Xu 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.