So
A short surname that can arise from several different language traditions, especially as a romanized East Asian name or as a reduced form in other cultures.
The #4,749 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 41,409 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Because So is very short and appears in several naming systems, it does not have one single secure origin. In East Asia it is often a romanization of different Chinese surnames, and it can also be found in Korean and Vietnamese contexts through transliteration. In English-speaking records, it may occasionally represent an abbreviated or altered form of a longer surname.
History
The surname is relatively uncommon in the United States, which fits a name that can enter records through immigration and transliteration from several source languages. In practice, different bearers of So may have unrelated family histories, so the same spelling does not guarantee a shared origin.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Very short surnames like So are often tricky for genealogists because the same spelling can hide several completely different original names.