Given name & surname · also Wade–Giles
Chu
Chu is a surname from Wade–Giles, ultimately from Mandarin. It is used in English, Vietnamese, Tagalog, and Indonesian.
Meaning & origin
Where it comes from
Chu comes from Wade–Giles, and ultimately from Mandarin.
Adapted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0)
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1986. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin.
From dated birth records
Chu through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 13
- 13 boys · 0 girls
- Most popular year
- 1990
- 7 babies
- 2025
- 0
- Outside the ranked list
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- —
- Too few births to compare
By the numbers
The most recent published U.S. birth count for boys is 7 in 1990. Later missing counts do not mean the name went unused. Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 1,850 as a first name in 2020; 29,872 as a surname in 2020.
From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.
Chu’s family of names
In Filipino usage, Chu as a surname has a related form in CHIU. In English usage, Chu as a surname has a related form in ZHU. In English usage, Chu as a surname has a related form in ZHU.
Inner ring: spellings · middle: nicknames and forms · outer: across languages.
Around the world
Chu has relatives in 5 languages. Lines run from its Chinese roots to each of them.
7 related names in 5 languages. Point at a dot, or tab to the map and use the arrow keys.
Nicknames & forms 6
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
Spellings & scripts 1
The same name written differently, including transliterations into other scripts.
Across languages 9
Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.
Show 1 moreShow fewer
See also 4
Names our sources mention alongside this one. They are related in story or meaning, not forms of this name.
People named Chu
- Zheng ChuranChinese women's rights activist and feministborn 1989
- Zhou ChuJin Dynasty general236–297
- Zhang ChuChinese musicianborn 1968
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
Similar names
If you love Chu, these share its style, era, origin or sound, from outside its own family.
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Shao
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You
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“one who is respected”
>99% boys
Phi
Phi is a masculine given name from Chinese. It is used in Vietnamese.
91% boys · 9% girls
Zong
Zong is a surname from Chinese.
81% boys · 19% girls
Xiong
Xiong is a surname from Mandarin, ultimately from Chinese.
>99% boys