Su is the pinyin romanization of the

common Common may refer to: Places * Common, a townland in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland * Boston Common, a central public park in Boston, Massachusetts * Cambridge Common, common land area in Cambridge, Massachusetts * Clapham Common, originally com ...

Chinese surname Chinese surnames are used by Han Chinese and Sinicized ethnic groups in China, Taiwan, Korea, Vietnam, and among overseas Chinese communities around the world such as Singapore and Malaysia. Written Chinese names begin with surnames, unlike the ...

written in simplified characters and

traditionally A tradition is a belief or behavior (folk custom) passed down within a group or society with symbolic meaning or special significance with origins in the past. A component of cultural expressions and folklore, common examples include holidays o ...

. It was listed 42nd among the Song-era list of the '' Hundred Family Surnames''. In 2019 it was the 46th most common surname in mainland China.

Romanizations

The Wade form of the name is identical to the pinyin, but it is also sometimes irregularly romanized as

Soo Soo or SOO may refer to: Places * Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, a border city in Canada nicknamed "The Soo" * Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, a border city in the United States also nicknamed "The Soo" ** Soo Locks, the locks between Lake Superior and ...

. and are also romanized So and Sou in Cantonese; Soh and Souw in

Southern Min Southern Min (), Minnan (Mandarin pronunciation: ) or Banlam (), is a group of linguistically similar and historically related Sinitic languages that form a branch of Min Chinese spoken in Fujian (especially the Minnan region), most of Taiwan ( ...

dialects; Soh in Teochew; and Thu in

Gan The word Gan or the initials GAN may refer to: Places *Gan, a component of Hebrew placenames literally meaning "garden" China * Gan River (Jiangxi) * Gan River (Inner Mongolia), * Gan County, in Jiangxi province * Gansu, abbreviated ''Gā ...

. This Chinese name is also the source of the

Vietnamese surname Traditional Vietnamese personal names generally consist of three parts, used in Eastern name order. * A family name (normally patrilineal, The father’s family name may be combined with the mother's family name to form a compound family name). ...

Tô ( Chữ Nôm: ); the Korean surname , which is

romanized Romanization or romanisation, in linguistics, is the conversion of text from a different writing system to the Roman (Latin) script, or a system for doing so. Methods of romanization include transliteration, for representing written text, and ...

So; the Japanese surname , which is also

So; and the Filipino/Tagalog surname So. Also, the Filipino family name "Solon" is a Hispanicized version of So. The Solon clan coming from Cebu are famous for their ancestors who were government officials. The Solons were originally from

Canton Canton may refer to: Administrative division terminology * Canton (administrative division), territorial/administrative division in some countries, notably Switzerland * Township (Canada), known as ''canton'' in Canadian French Arts and ent ...

Distribution

Su was the 41st-most-common Chinese surname in the mainland during the 1982 census and the 45th-most-common in the 2007 report on household registrations released by the

Chinese Ministry of Public Security The Ministry of Public Security () is a Ministries of the People's Republic of China, government ministry of the China, People's Republic of China responsible for public security, public and political security. It oversees more than 1.9 mil ...

. It has been listed as the 23rd-most-common Chinese surname in Taiwan. Su is a somewhat common surname in the United States, listed 5,897th during the 1990 census and 3,835th during the year 2000 one. US Census Bureau. Op. cit.

Public Broadcasting Service The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educati ...

.
How Popular Is Your Last Name?
Accessed 6 Apr 2012. The other romanizations are less popular: So (8527 & 5167), Soo (17545 & 22160), Sou (77891 & 30226), Thu (49039 & 64912), and Soh (unlisted & 40074); Souw had fewer than one hundred resident bearers in the United States during both censuses and was unlisted both times.

Statistics Canada Statistics Canada (StatCan; french: Statistique Canada), formed in 1971, is the agency of the Government of Canada commissioned with producing statistics to help better understand Canada, its population, resources, economy, society, and cultur ...

does not release surname lists from its censuses, but Su and So were both listed among the 200-most-common peculiarly

Chinese-Canadian , native_name = , native_name_lang = , image = Chinese Canadian population by province.svg , image_caption = Chinese Canadians as percent of population by province / territory , pop = 1,715,7704.63% of the ...

surnames in a 2010 survey of the Registered Persons Database of all current and former

Canadian health card Healthcare in Canada is delivered through the provincial and territorial systems of publicly funded health care, informally called Medicare (Canada), Medicare. It is guided by the provisions of the ''Canada Health Act'' of 1984, and is Universal ...

recipients in the province of Ontario.

Character decomposition

The character was formed by the addition of the

grass radical Radical 140 or radical grass () meaning "grass" is one of 29 of the 214 Kangxi radicals that are composed of 6 strokes. It transforms into when appearing at the top of a character or component. In the ''Kangxi Dictionary'' and in modern standard ...

() to the character ( s , ''sū'', "revive"), itself a combination of the characters for "fish" ( t , s , ''yú'') and "grain" (, ''hé'').

Origins

The original pronunciation of 穌 has been reconstructed as ''*s.ŋˤa'' in Old Chinese, but this had already developed into ''su'' by the time of Middle Chinese.Baxter, Wm. H. & Sagart, Laurent. '' '', p. 126. 2011. Accessed 11 October 2011. The addition of the grass radical suggests its original meaning was its use describing varieties of the mint perilla, but its general meaning today is as an abbreviation for

Suzhou Suzhou (; ; Suzhounese: ''sou¹ tseu¹'' , Mandarin: ), alternately romanized as Soochow, is a major city in southern Jiangsu province, East China. Suzhou is the largest city in Jiangsu, and a major economic center and focal point of trade ...

and replacement for a related word meaning "revive". As with many Chinese surnames, however, there are a variety of separate legends and origins told about the current bearers of the name. One origin derives from Fan, purported to be the eldest grandson of the six great-great-great-great-grandsons of the Yellow Emperor and said to have lived in Kunwu (), the northeast region of Yuncheng in

Shanxi Shanxi (; ; formerly romanised as Shansi) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China and is part of the North China region. The capital and largest city of the province is Taiyuan, while its next most populated prefecture-lev ...

. During the Xia dynasty, King

Huai The Huai River (), formerly romanized as the Hwai, is a major river in China. It is located about midway between the Yellow River and Yangtze, the two longest rivers and largest drainage basins in China, and like them runs from west to east. ...

or Fen gave Yousu (}, modern Suling (^?) in Henan) to the rulers of Kunwu as a fief and they established it as the

State of Su State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * The State (newspaper), ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, U ...

. This perished in the late Shang dynastywhose fall was traditionally blamed upon the beautiful concubine

Su Daji Daji () was the favourite consort of King Zhou of Shang, the last king of the Shang dynasty in ancient China. In legends and fictions, she is portrayed as a malevolent fox spirit who kills and impersonates the real Daji. Her identification as a f ...

,but its rulers and people took the state's name as their clan name and moved elsewhere. Another derives from Su Chasheng who was Minister of Justice under King Wu of the Zhou dynasty and revived the former region of Su as his fief, with a new capital city at

Wen Wen, wen, or WEN may refer to: * WEN, New York Stock Exchange symbol for Wendy's/Arby's Group * WEN, Amtrak station code for Columbia Station in Wenatchee, Washington, United States * WEN, ICAO airline designator for WestJet Encore * Wen (surnam ...

(modern Wen County in Henan). He is also considered to be the ancestor of the

family. Prior to the Qin dynasty, the Su clan mainly resided in Henan and Hebei, but, during the Warring States period, one group moved southward into Hubei and Hunan and another west into Shaanxi. Under the Qin and Han, this Shaanxi clan became a prominent and distinguished family while a third group of clans moved east into

Shandong Shandong ( , ; ; alternately romanized as Shantung) is a coastal province of the People's Republic of China and is part of the East China region. Shandong has played a major role in Chinese history since the beginning of Chinese civilizati ...

. Another origin was from a

Han Han may refer to: Ethnic groups * Han Chinese, or Han People (): the name for the largest ethnic group in China, which also constitutes the world's largest ethnic group. ** Han Taiwanese (): the name for the ethnic group of the Taiwanese p ...

-era

ethnic group An ethnic group or an ethnicity is a grouping of people who identify with each other on the basis of shared attributes that distinguish them from other groups. Those attributes can include common sets of traditions, ancestry, language, history, ...

in Liaodong, whose family name Wuyuanyousu () was later shortened into Su during the

Northern Wei Wei (), known in historiography as the Northern Wei (), Tuoba Wei (), Yuan Wei () and Later Wei (), was founded by the Tuoba (Tabgach) clan of the Xianbei. The first of the Northern and Southern dynasties#Northern dynasties, Northern dynasties ...

. Large numbers of Su moved into Sichuan and Fujian during the Tang dynasty. During the Northern Song, they moved further southward to Guizhou, Guangdong, and

Guangxi Guangxi (; ; Chinese postal romanization, alternately romanized as Kwanghsi; ; za, Gvangjsih, italics=yes), officially the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region (GZAR), is an Autonomous regions of China, autonomous region of the People's Republic ...

. Their current relative popularity in Taiwan began following migrations during the Ming and

Qing The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-speaki ...

. In the Philippines, the rare family name ''Solon'' derives from the surname ''So''/''Su''.

Notable people with the surname Su

Historical

* Su Daji, the beautiful concubine traditionally blamed for the fall of the Shang dynasty *

Su Wu Su Wu (; 140 BC - 60 BC ) was a Chinese diplomat and politician of the Western Han dynasty. He is known in Chinese history for making the best of his mission into foreign territory. During his mission he was captured and then detained for ni ...

, a Western Han dynasty official *

Su Ze Su Ze (died 223), courtesy name Wenshi, was an official of the state of Cao Wei during the Three Kingdoms period of China. Born in the late Eastern Han dynasty, he started his career as the Administrator of various commanderies in northwest Ch ...

, an

Eastern Han dynasty The Han dynasty (, ; ) was an imperial dynasty of China (202 BC – 9 AD, 25–220 AD), established by Liu Bang (Emperor Gao) and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by the short-lived Qin dynasty (221–207 BC) and a warr ...

official * Su Wei or Wuwei, a Sui-era official * Su Liangsi, Duke of Wen,

chancellor Chancellor ( la, cancellarius) is a title of various official positions in the governments of many nations. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the or lattice work screens of a basilica or law cou ...

to Emperor Ruizong during the Tang dynasty * Su Dingfang,

Tang Tang or TANG most often refers to: * Tang dynasty * Tang (drink mix) Tang or TANG may also refer to: Chinese states and dynasties * Jin (Chinese state) (11th century – 376 BC), a state during the Spring and Autumn period, called Tang (唐) b ...

-era general * The Three Sus (

Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of va ...

: , ''San Sū''), the Chinese poets Su Shi, Su Xun, and Su Zhe *

Su Song Su Song (, 1020–1101), courtesy name Zirong (), was a Chinese polymathic scientist and statesman. Excelling in a variety of fields, he was accomplished in mathematics, Chinese astronomy, astronomy, History of cartography#China, cartography, ...

, famous Song dynasty scientist who invented the world's first endless power chain drive and hydro-mechanical astronomical clock tower. *

Soh Kwang-pom Soh Kwang-pom or Seo Gwang-beom (8 November 1859 – 17 July 1897) (Hangul: 서광범, Hanja: 徐光範) was a Korean reformist and politician of Korea's late Joseon Dynasty. Soh Kwang-Pom, sometimes Pom Kwang Soh or known by his English name: Ke ...

, Korean reformist of the late Joseon dynasty * Soh Jaipil, Korean independence activist and medical doctor *

Soh Hang-suen Soh Hang-suen (10 October 1951 – 12 June 2013), (alternatively romanised as So Hung-shuen), was a Hong Kong actress. Soh worked for TVB during its ''Golden Age'', joining in 1974, and was most notable for her role in ''Looking Back in Anger ...

, Hong Kong Actress * Su Shi, an ancient Chinese poet

Modern

* John So, former Lord Mayor of Melbourne * Louisa So, Hong Kong actress * Wesley So, Chinese Filipino chess prodigy *

William So William So Wing Hong (; born 24 September 1967) is a Hong Kong actor and a Cantopop singer. He began his musical career by participating the New Talent Singing Awards in 1985 and won the competition as the first runner up to Alex To. His perfor ...

, Hong Kong singer and actor * Soh Hang Suen, former Hong Kong TVB actress * Alec Su, Taiwanese singer and actor *

Su Bingqi Su Bingqi (; 1909 – 30 June 1997) was a Chinese archaeology, archaeologist and co-founder of Peking University's archaeology program. He was China's major archaeological theoretician for 50 years, and regarded in his later years as the paramou ...

, archaeologist *

Su Buqing Su Buqing, also spelled Su Buchin (; September 23, 1902 – March 17, 2003), was a Chinese mathematician, educator and poet. He was the founder of differential geometry in China, and served as president of Fudan University and honorary chairman ...

, mathematician *

Su Chi Su Chi (; born 1 October 1949) is a Taiwanese politician. Su served as Secretary-General of the National Security Council from 2008 to 2010. Previously, he was the Minister of the Mainland Affairs Council of the Executive Yuan from 1 February 19 ...

, Minister of Mainland Affairs Council of the Republic of China *

Su Chih-fen Su Chih-fen (; born 10 July 1953) is a Taiwanese politician. She was the Magistrate of Yunlin County from 20 December 2005 until 25 December 2014. Yunlin County Magistrate Yunlin County Magistrate election Su was elected as the Magistrate of ...

, Magistrate of Yunlin County *

So Ji Sub So Ji-sub (born November 4, 1977) is a South Korean actor. After making his entertainment debut as a jeans model, he became known for his leading roles in the television series '' What Happened in Bali'' (2004), ''I'm Sorry, I Love You'' (2004), ...

, South Korean Actor * Su Chin-shou, Hui chief of staff to General Ma Zhancang * Su Chun-jung, Deputy Minister of Directorate-General of Personnel Administration of the Republic of China * Su Jain-rong, Minister of Finance of the Republic of China *

Jen Su Jennifer Su (born 12 August 1968 as ''Tsou Hai-ying'' 鄒海音) is an American South African radio and television personality of Chinese origin. She is best known as the financial news anchor for The Africa Business Report on Sky News. She is ...

, TV presenter * Lisa Su, CEO & President of Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) *

Su Li-chiung Su Li-chiung () is a Taiwanese politician. She served as Deputy Minister of Labor from 28 November 2017 to 29 August 2018. Education Su obtained her bachelor's degree in ethno-sociology from National Chengchi University, master's degree in soci ...

, former Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare of the Republic of China * Su Tseng-chang, Premier of the Republic of China * Charoen Sirivadhanabhakdi (Su Xuming), Thai billionaire businessman *

Su Yunying Su Yunying (; born 8 April 1991), also known as Sue Su, is a Chinese singer-songwriter of Li ethnicity. Su was born and raised in Sanya, Hainan. Su rose to prominence in 2015 on Sing My Song, performing her own written debut song called "Yez ...

, Chinese singer * Phillipa Soo, American actress and singer *

Kelvin Soo The kelvin, symbol K, is the primary unit of temperature in the International System of Units (SI), used alongside its prefixed forms and the degree Celsius. It is named after the Belfast-born and University of Glasgow-based engineer and phys ...

, Managing Director of Furley Bioextracts (FBIO) * Su Shanshan, Chinese singer, actress, and member of Chinese idol group SNH48 * Oakley Neil H T Caesar-Su, known professionally as Central Cee, British rapper and songwriter ;Tô (Vietnamese name of Su) *

Tô Hiến Thành Tô Hiến Thành ( Hán tự: 蘇憲誠) (died 1179) was an official in the royal court of Lý Anh Tông and Lý Cao Tông, the sixth and seventh emperors of the Lý dynasty. Being a capable official of Lý Anh Tông who helped the emperor in ...

, a Vietnamese official under the

Lý dynasty The Lý dynasty ( vi, Nhà Lý, , chữ Nôm: 茹李, chữ Hán: 李朝, Hán Việt: ''Lý triều'') was a Vietnamese dynasty that existed from 1009 to 1225. It was established by Lý Công Uẩn when he overthrew the Early Lê dynasty an ...

* Tô Trung Từ, a high ranking general and attempted usurper of the Lý dynasty ;Soh (English name of Su) *

Soh Chin Aun Datuk Wira Soh Chin Ann (or Soh Chin Aun due to misspelling by Malaysian media; ; born 28 July 1950) is a Malaysian former footballer. He was affectionately known as ''Tauke'' or '' Towkay'' ( en, Boss) by his teammates and fans. RSSSF and I ...

, Malaysian Footballer *

Shigeru Soh (born 9 January 1953 in Usuki, Ōita) is a retired long-distance runner from Japan, who represented his native country at two Summer Olympics: 1976 and 1984. He won the 1985 edition of the Tokyo Marathon. His twin brother Takeshi So is also a ...

, Japanese long-distance runner, twin brother of Takeshi *

Takeshi Soh is a retired long-distance runner from Japan, who represented his native country at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, California. He won the 1976 edition of the Košice Peace Marathon in Czechoslovakia. His twin brother is also a retired ...

, Japanese long-distance runner, twin brother of Shigeru *

June-Young Soh June-Young Soh (born 15 January 1965) is a South Korean director/musician who made his worldwide debut in Shanghai Mercedes-Benz Arena with the musical ''The Lost Garden'' on 8 June 2013. His current work'CHASA' is a circus based musical the sto ...

, South Korean director and musician * Cavin Soh, Singaporean actor * Elson Soh, Singaporean singer *

Debra W. Soh Debra W. Soh is a Canadian columnist, author, and former academic sex researcher. Education and research Soh holds a Ph.D. degree in neuroscience from York University in Toronto. Her dissertation was titled ''Functional and Structural Neuroi ...

, Canadian neuroscientist and science journalist *

Soh Rui Yong Soh Rui Yong (born 6 August 1991) is a Singaporean national long-distance runner, and holder of four national records: 5,000m, 10,000m, half marathon and marathon. In 2017, Soh became the first Singaporean male marathoner to win back-to-back SEA ...

, Singaporean long-distance runner *

Soh Wooi Yik Soh Wooi Yik (, born 17 February 1998) is a Malaysian badminton player. He was part of the Malaysian 2015 and 2016 BWF World Junior Championships team, and has helped Malaysia clinch a silver medal in mixed team after being defeated by China in ...

, Malaysian badminton player *

Chunghee Sarah Soh Chunghee Sarah Soh or Sarah Soh is an American professor of Anthropology at San Francisco State University. She is a sociocultural anthropologist who specializes in issues of women, gender, sexuality. Her book '' The Comfort Women: Sexual Viol ...

, South Korean-born American anthropologist * Benny Soh, Singaporean film actor *

Eugene Soh Eugene may refer to: People and fictional characters * Eugene (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Eugene (actress) (born 1981), Kim Yoo-jin, South Korean actress and former member of the sin ...

, Singaporean tech artist, Founder of Mind Palace

World Federation of Soh Associations

Over 1,000 representatives of Soh Clan Associations from around the world meet every two years at the Congress of the World Federation of Soh Associations. Participants hail from China, Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, South Korea, the Philippines, Australia, America and Europe. The first congress was held in Manila in 1994.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Su (Surname) Chinese-language surnames Individual Chinese surnames ko:소주 가씨