Gu
A short surname that often comes from several unrelated Chinese and East Asian family names, depending on the characters and language involved.
The #6,183 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 55,811 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Gu is not one single surname with one fixed origin. In Chinese, it can represent several different surnames written with different characters, most commonly 谷 or 顾, among others, each with its own history and literal meaning. The same Roman spelling can also reflect surnames from Korean, Vietnamese, or Japanese names when they are written in Latin letters.
History
In English-language records, Gu is usually an immigration-era spelling used to represent a surname from East Asia, especially Chinese. Because Romanization systems differ, people with very different original surnames may appear under the same spelling. The surname is relatively common in the United States today because of modern migration rather than old Anglo-American usage.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
The same two-letter spelling can hide several unrelated surnames in Chinese alone, so family history usually depends on the original characters, not just the Romanized form.
Notable people named Gu
- Goo Hara (1991–2019)
- Wellington Koo (1887–1985)
Sourced from Wikidata; linked to their Wikipedia page.