Lau
A surname with several possible roots, including a Latin word for a translator or an old place-name element in some British and European lines.
The #1,187 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 10,363 Americans shares it.
Etymology
The evidence is mixed, and Lau is not a single-origin surname in the historical sources. One dictionary entry links it to Latin 'lau-' in the sense of an interpreter or translator, reflecting an older use of 'Latin' for a language helper. Other surname traditions may connect it with place-name elements or short forms found in British and continental records, but the exact source depends on the family line.
History
The surname appears in historical records across several regions, which suggests that different families adopted it independently. In England and elsewhere, similar spellings can reflect local place names, occupational terms, or shortened forms of longer names. Because the spelling is short and versatile, it is especially prone to multiple unrelated origins.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
In one 19th-century source, Lau is glossed as a term for an interpreter, because 'Latin' was once used more broadly for a language expert.
From the historical record
“LAU 188 loosely, an interpreter — the terra Latin having been formerly applied, as Halliwell observes, to languages in general. Sir John ]\Iaiindeville, speaking of the route from Babylon to Sinai, says : " And men alle weys fynden Latijneres to go with hem in”
— Patronymica Britannica: a dictionary of the family names of the United Kingdom