# Yu (surname)

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

Synonym of You; A surname from Mandarin.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Origin | Chinese |
| Type | not recorded |
| People in the US (2010 Census) | 52,035 |
| US rank (2010) | 658 of 162,253 |
| How often | about 1 in every 5,933 people |
| Change since 2000 | +43% (36,285 in 2000) |
| Pronunciation | /ˈju/, 1 syllable |
| Variant spellings | none recorded |

## Etymology

Transliteration: * (Mandarin): From Wade–Giles romanization of Mandarin (for: ㄩˊ, ㄩˇ, ㄩˋ, ㄧㄡˊ) (余, 于, 由 (yóu), 魚 /鱼 (yú) / 鱼 (yú), 漁 /渔 (yú), 渔 (yú), 楀 (yǔ), 俞, 喻, 兪, 於 /于, 遇 (yù), 虞 (yú), 郁 (yù), 尉, 禹 (yǔ), 游 (yóu), 尤 (yóu), 庾 (yǔ), 娛 /娱, 娱, 茹) * (Korean): From Korean 유 (yu) or 류 (ryu) (柳, 劉, 兪, 庾) * (Japanese): From Japanese ゆう or ユウ (優, 夕, 友, 有, 勇, 祐, 裕, 雄, 悠, 由宇, 侑)

## Who carries it

Share of people named Yu 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) | 1.5% |
| Black (not Hispanic) | 0.1% |
| Hispanic or Latino (any race) | 0.7% |
| Asian and Pacific Islander | 96% |
| American Indian and Alaska Native | 0.0% |
| Two or more races | 1.6% |

## Where

Wikidata records people named Yu in the United States, Taiwan, Australia and the People's Republic of China.

## People named Yu

- Elizabeth Yu, American actress
- Yu Ying-shih, American China historian (1930-2021)
- Jessica Yu, American filmmaker (born 1966)
- Corrinne Yu, American game programmer
- Charles Yu, American writer
- Angela Yu, badminton player
- Leland Yee, American criminal and former Democratic California State Senator

## Similar surnames

Yue, Yee, Yi, Yoo, Ye, Yao, Yeh, You, Yau, Yoho, Yeo, Yow.

## 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.