How common is the surname Yau?

3,033 people in the United States had the surname Yau in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 101,795 Americans. It ranked 10,565th of 162,253 surnames.

What ethnicity is the surname Yau?

In the 2010 Census, 93% of people named Yau identified as Asian and Pacific Islander, and 2.6% as Hispanic or Latino (any race).

Who is the most famous person named Yau?

Horng-Tzer Yau, American mathematician.

Where is the surname Yau most common?

Wikidata records people named Yau in the United States.

Is the surname Yau getting more or less common?

More common. 2,686 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 3,033 in 2010, up 13%.

The surname Yau

A surname, carried by 3,033 people in the United States.

1 syllable Soundex Y000

Every surname held by 100 or more people in the 2010 US Census, most common on the left (162,253 in all). Yau is more common than 93.5% of them.

Origin

From Hokkien 姚 (Iâu), Cantonese 丘 (jau1), Cantonese 邱 (jau1), Cantonese 尤 (jau4), Cantonese 游 (jau4), etc.

Origin from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0).

How common it is

2010 US Census

There were 3,033 people named Yau in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 101,795 Americans. That is up 13% since 2000, when the Census counted 2,686.

#10,565

rank among US surnames

3,033

people in 2010

1.0

per 100,000 Americans

+12.9%

change since 2000 (was #10,881)

Rank	Surname	People	1 in
#10,560	Biggerstaff	3,035	101,728
#10,563	Nadler	3,034	101,762
#10,565	Mullikin	3,033	101,795
#10,572	Larocque	3,032	101,829

Who is named Yau

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

93% of people named Yau identified as Asian and Pacific Islander, 2.6% as Hispanic or Latino (any race) and 2.3% as white (not Hispanic).

Asian and Pacific Islander 93%
Hispanic or Latino (any race) 2.6%
White (not Hispanic) 2.3%
Two or more races 2.2%

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 Yaus

1 notable person on Wikidata, most written-about first

Horng-Tzer Yau
American mathematician, born 1959

Spellings and sound-alikes

Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling

Surnames that sound like Yau

Yau has the Soundex code Y000, the code US census indexes have used since the 1930s. Every surname with code Y000.

Questions

Where does the surname Yau come from?: From Hokkien 姚 (Iâu), Cantonese 丘 (jau1), Cantonese 邱 (jau1), Cantonese 尤 (jau4), Cantonese 游 (jau4), etc.
How common is the surname Yau?: 3,033 people in the United States had the surname Yau in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 101,795 Americans. It ranked 10,565th of 162,253 surnames.
What ethnicity is the surname Yau?: In the 2010 Census, 93% of people named Yau identified as Asian and Pacific Islander, and 2.6% as Hispanic or Latino (any race).
Who is the most famous person named Yau?: Horng-Tzer Yau, American mathematician.
Where is the surname Yau most common?: Wikidata records people named Yau in the United States.
Is the surname Yau getting more or less common?: More common. 2,686 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 3,033 in 2010, up 13%.