Yu (surname 于)


Yu is a Chinese family name. According to the 2006 census of People's Republic of China, it ranks 38th nationally. In 2019 it was the 41st most common surname in mainland China. The name is transliterated as Vu in Vietnamese but is very rare in Vietnam. It is the 82nd name on the Hundred Family Surnames poem.
Note that even though the literary usage of the character 於 was simplified to 于 in simplified Chinese, the surname usages of 於 was unchanged, so both are recognized as distinct surnames in both simplified and traditional Chinese.
於 is the 203rd name on the Hundred Family Surnames. 375th-most common name shared by 0.0074% of the population or 99,000 people, with the province with the most being Jiangsu.

Distribution

Of the top 30 cities in China, 于 ranked 9th most common in the cities of both Changchun and Harbin.

History

The Yu surname originated from the surname Ji. According to history records, after Zhou Wu Wang overthrew the Shang dynasty, he created many dukes. He gave his second son Yu Shu the Yu kingdom, whose descendants then acquired the surname Yu. The Yu lived in Kaifeng and Chenliu areas in Henan for a long period of time, becoming prominent families there. After the Tang and Song dynasties, Yu families started to move to Huiji.

Notable people

于

於

  • Yu Lihua was a Chinese writer who authored over thirty works - novels, short stories, newspaper articles
  • Yu Zhiying is a Chinese professional go player