Ou is the

pinyin Hanyu Pinyin (), often shortened to just pinyin, is the official romanization system for Standard Mandarin Chinese in China, and to some extent, in Singapore and Malaysia. It is often used to teach Mandarin, normally written in Chinese for ...

romanization of the

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 ...

s and , which share a common origin with the

compound surname In some cultures, a surname, family name, or last name is the portion of one's personal name that indicates one's family, tribe or community. Practices vary by culture. The family name may be placed at either the start of a person's full name ...

Ouyang Ouyang () is a Chinese surname. It is the most common two-character Chinese compound surname, being the only two-character name of the 400 most common Chinese surnames, according to a 2013 study, and is one of the few two-character surnames that ha ...

(), from the ruling family of the

State of Yue Yue (, Old Chinese: ''*''), also known as Yuyue (), was a state in ancient China which existed during the first millennium BC the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods of China's Zhou dynasty in the modern provinces of Zhejiang, Sha ...

during the

Spring and Autumn period The Spring and Autumn period was a period in Chinese history from approximately 770 to 476 BC (or according to some authorities until 403 BC) which corresponds roughly to the first half of the Eastern Zhou period. The period's name derives fr ...

. They are commonly romanized as Au or Ao in

Cantonese Cantonese ( zh, t=廣東話, s=广东话, first=t, cy=Gwóngdūng wá) is a language within the Chinese (Sinitic) branch of the Sino-Tibetan languages originating from the city of Guangzhou (historically known as Canton) and its surrounding are ...

. Ou 歐 is listed 361st in the

Song dynasty The Song dynasty (; ; 960–1279) was an imperial dynasty of China that began in 960 and lasted until 1279. The dynasty was founded by Emperor Taizu of Song following his usurpation of the throne of the Later Zhou. The Song conquered the rest ...

classic text ''

Hundred Family Surnames The ''Hundred Family Surnames'' (), commonly known as ''Bai Jia Xing'', also translated as ''Hundreds of Chinese Surnames'', is a classic Chinese text composed of common Chinese surnames. An unknown author compiled the book during the Song dy ...

''. As of 2008, Ou 欧 is the 134th most common surname in China, shared by 1.13 million people. Most recently, by using the 2010 China census data and statistical analysis data that included random sampling from Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau, the Fuxi Culture Research Association ranked the surname / 291st most common in China, shared by around 199,000 people (0.015% of the Chinese population) with the largest concentration of holders in

Guangdong Guangdong (, ), alternatively romanized as Canton or Kwangtung, is a coastal province in South China on the north shore of the South China Sea. The capital of the province is Guangzhou. With a population of 126.01 million (as of 2020) ...

province.

Distribution

Ou was the 27,293th most common surname in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

during the 1990 census and the 11,845th most common surname during the 2000 census. Au ranked 11,417th and 5,195th, and Ao ranked 88,459th and 58,402nd. During the 2010 census, Ou, Au and Ao ranked as the 7,891st, 4,919th and 41,501st most common surname respectively.Frequently Occurring Surnames from the 2010 Census.

Origins

The Ou () and

are considered to both descend from the ruling family of the

state of Yue Yue (, Old Chinese: ''*''), also known as Yuyue (), was a state in ancient China which existed during the first millennium BC the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods of China's Zhou dynasty in the modern provinces of Zhejiang, Sha ...

during the

. With the variant being descendants of Ou An (), a wealthy and charitable merchant who came to the attention of Emperor Jing of Han, who ordered that Ou An do without the radical 'qian' () from , a character that means 'to owe'. Many Ou have their ancestral roots in the Longgang,

Zhongshan Zhongshan (; ) is a prefecture-level city in the south of the Pearl River Delta in Guangdong province, China. As of the 2020 census, the whole city with 4,418,060 inhabitants is now part of the Guangzhou–Shenzhen conurbation with 65,565,622 i ...

Shunde Shunde District, also known as Shuntak, is a district of the city of Foshan, Guangdong province, located in the Pearl River Delta. It had a population of 2,464,784 as of the 2010 census. Once a traditional agricultural county, it has become one ...

Panyu Panyu, alternately romanized as Punyu, is one of 11 urban districts of the prefecture-level city of Guangzhou, the capital of Guangdong Province, China. It was a separate county-level city before its incorporation into modern Guangzhou in 200 ...

, and

Xinhui Xinhui, alternately romanized as Sunwui and also known as Kuixiang, is an urban district of Jiangmen in Guangdong, China. It grew from a separate city founded at the confluence of the Tan and West Rivers. It has a population of about 735,50 ...

areas of

List of persons with the surname

Au ()

*區瑞強 Albert Au Shui Keung, Hong Kong DJ and folk singer *區文詩

Angela Au Man Sze Angela Au Man-sze (born 25 January 1983) is a Hong Kong singer and radio disk/web jockey. A former member of the cantopop group, ''Cookies'', she had previously been a student and part-time model. She entered a singing contest held by Yes!/EM ...

, Hong Kong DJ and member of

Cookies A cookie is a baked or cooked snack or dessert that is typically small, flat and sweet. It usually contains flour, sugar, egg, and some type of oil, fat, or butter. It may include other ingredients such as raisins, oats, chocolate chips, nuts ...

*區錦新

Au Kam San Au Kam-san () (born 30 April 1957 in Macau with family roots in Xinxing, Guangdong, China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by populat ...

, Macanese legislator *區雪兒 Susie Au Suet Yee, Hong Kong music-video director *區德

Au Tak Au Tak (also spelled Au Tack; ; 1840–1920) or Au Chak-mun () was a Hong Kong entrepreneur. He was the proprietor of a furniture shop and the property developers in Central District on Hong Kong Island. He used to be the director of Tung Wah ...

or Au Chak-mun (1840–1920), Hong Kong developer, namesake of

Kai Tak Airport Kai Tak Airport was the international airport of Hong Kong from 1925 until 1998. Officially known as Hong Kong International Airport from 1954 to 6 July 1998, it is often referred to as Hong Kong International Airport, Kai Tak, or simply Ka ...

and

Munsang College Munsang College (MSC; zh, 民生書院) is an eminent EMI college situated in Hong Kong founded by Mr Au Chak Mun (also known as Au Tak),} and Dr Ts'o Seen Wan in 1926. It adopts the house system and each student is assigned to one of six ...

*區家駒 (千里駒) Au Ka Kui (1886–1936),

Cantonese opera Cantonese opera is one of the major categories in Chinese opera, originating in southern China's Guangdong Province. It is popular in Guangdong, Guangxi, Hong Kong, Macau and among Chinese communities in Southeast Asia. Like all versions of Ch ...

performer *區丁平 Tony Au Ting-Ping, Hong Kong film and art director *區永權 Au Wing-Kyun, Hong Kong i-CABLE anchorman *區鳳墀 Au Fung-Chi, early Protestant leader in Hong Kong, gave name to

Sun Yat-sen Sun Yat-sen (; also known by several other names; 12 November 1866 – 12 March 1925)Singtao daily. Saturday edition. 23 October 2010. section A18. Sun Yat-sen Xinhai revolution 100th anniversary edition . was a Chinese politician who serve ...

*區諾軒

Au Nok-hin Au Nok-hin (; born 18 June 1987) is a pro-democracy politician in Hong Kong. He is the former member of the Legislative Council for Hong Kong Island from 2018 to 2019 and member of the Southern District Council for Lei Tung I from 2012 to 20 ...

, Hong Kong politician *區燕青 Alice Au Yin-ching, Hong Kong actress *區志偉

Au Chi-wai Au Chi-wai ( Chinese: 區志偉, born 19 November 1969), sometimes referred to as Au Chi Wai or Chi-wai Au in Western media), is an amateur snooker and pool player from Hong Kong. In snooker, he won (with Marco Fu), the silver medal in the s ...

, Hong Kong snooker and pool player *區慶祥 Thomas Au Hing-cheung, Justice of Appeal of the Court of Appeal of Hong Kong *區嘉宏

Au Ka-wang Au Ka-wang (; born 1967) is the current Director of Immigration of Hong Kong since July 2020. He began service in the Immigration Department in 1988. Career He joined the Immigration Department in November 1988 as an Assistant Immigration ...

, Director of Immigration of Hong Kong *區凱琳

Au Hoi Lam Au Hoi Lam (; born 1978 in Hong Kong) is a Chinese painter. She has won several awards including the Nokia Arts Awards (2000) and the Hong Kong Arts Development Awards 2013 – Award for Young Artist (Visual Arts). Biography Born and raised in Ho ...

, Hong Kong artist

Ow ()

*區耀漢

Ow Yao Han Ow Yao Han (;born 19 April 1992) is a Malaysian badminton player. He won two gold medals in the boys' doubles event at the BWF World Junior Championships in 2009 and 2010. Achievements Southeast Asian Games ''Men's doubles'' BWF World ...

, Malaysian badminton player

Ou ()

*區楚良

Ou Chuliang Ou Chuliang (; born 26 August 1968 in Guangzhou, Guangdong) is an assistant coach and former Chinese international football goalkeeper. As a player, he was goalkeeper for Guangdong Hongyuan, Shanghai Shenhua, Yunnan Hongta and Chongqing Qic ...

, member of Chinese national soccer team *區適子

Ou Shizi Ou Shizi (; 1234–1324) was a Song Dynasty scholar. A native of Chencun, Shunde in Guangdong province, he was known as "Mr. Dengzhou" (登洲先生) and was famous for his learnedness. His native village was renamed Dengzhou in his honour. He is ...

(1234–1324),

Song A song is a musical composition intended to be performed by the human voice. This is often done at distinct and fixed pitches (melodies) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs contain various forms, such as those including the repetitio ...

-era author of the ''

Three Character Classic The ''Three Character Classic'' (), commonly known as ''San Zi Jing'', also translated as ''Trimetric Classic'', is one of the Chinese classic texts. It was probably written in the 13th century and is mainly attributed to Wang Yinglin (王應麟 ...

'' *區星 Ou Xing,

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 bandit and rebel leader *區曼玲

Ou Manling Man-Ling Wittchen-Ou (born as Ou Manling 區曼玲) is a Taiwanese author, resident in Germany. Life Ou Manling was born in Taipei, Taiwan. Her father, from mainland China, fled to Taiwan during the warfare between the Chinese Nationalist Par ...

, Taiwanese author *區文雄 Ou Wenxiong (1894-1944), Secretary-General of

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 ...

Ao ()

*歐文龍 Ao Man Long, disgraced Macanese Secretary for Transport and Public Works

Au ()

*歐倩怡 Cindy Au Sin Yee, Hong Kong TV actress *歐健兒

Au Kin-Yee Au Kin-yee () is a Hong Kong screenwriter. She is a long-time screenwriter for films directed by Johnnie To and/or Wai Ka-Fai of Milkyway Image and frequently works alongside writers Wai Ka-Fai, Yau Nai-Hoi Yau Nai-hoi () is a Hon ...

, Hong Kong scriptwriter *歐丁玉 Michael Au Ding Yuk, Hong Kong music producer *歐錦棠 Stephen Au Kam Tong, Hong Kong TV actor *歐偉倫

Au Wai Lun Au Wai Lun (; born 14 August 1971, in Hong Kong) is a former Hong Kong professional football player. He is considered one of the best strikers in Hong Kong. Playing career Au made his debut in Hong Kong First Division League for Tin Tin on ...

, Hong Kong soccer player *歐詠芝 Annie Au Wing Chi, Hong Kong squash player *歐鎧淳 Stephanie Au Hoi-Shun, Hong Kong swimmer *歐鎮銘 Leo Au Chun Ming, Hong Kong squash player *歐菁仙

Sharon Au Sharon Au (; born 13 August 1975) is a Singaporean former actress and host. Having joined the TCS during the mid-1990s, she won many awards as an artiste with MediaCorp before taking a sabbatical to pursue university education in 2005 on a sch ...

, Singaporean actress *歐曉瑜 Michelle Au, American anesthesiologist and politician

Aw ()

*歐萱 / 歐燕苹 Jeanette Aw Ee-Ping, Singaporean actress *歐大旭 Tash Aw Ta-Shii, Malaysian expatriate, author of ''

The Harmony Silk Factory ''The Harmony Silk Factory'' (2005) is Tash Aw's critically acclaimed first novel, set in 1940s British-ruled Malaya, which is now called Malaysia. It was longlisted for the Man Booker Prize, and won the Whitbread Book Awards for First Novel Aw ...

Ou ()

*歐大任

Ou Daren Ou Daren (1516–1596) was a Ming Dynasty scholar. He was a native of Chencun (陳村), Shunde in Guangdong province. Becoming an official with the Second-Degree Scholars (優貢), he was appointed at posts such as Assistant of the Imperial Co ...

(1516–1596), one of

the Latter Five Poets of the Southern Garden The Latter Five Poets of the Southern Garden () was a Ming dynasty poetry circle composed of Liang Youyu (梁有誉), Ou Daren (歐大任), Li Minbiao (黎民表), Wu Dan (吴旦), and Li Shixing (李时行). They are generally considered to be t ...

*歐定興

Edward Ou Edward Ou () was born on 16 October 1980 in Taiwan. He is a Taiwanese actor and TV host. He graduated from Taipei Hwa Kang Arts School in 1998. Ou is junior to other Taiwanese entertainers such as Barbie Shu, whom he co-starred with in the ''M ...

, Taiwanese TV actor *歐鴻鍊

Francisco Ou Francisco H.L. Ou (; 5 January 1940 – 30 October 2021) was a Taiwanese diplomat. He was ambassador of the Republic of China to Nicaragua and Guatemala before serving as foreign minister during the Ma Ying-jeou presidential administration. Ea ...

, former Minister of Foreign Affairs for the

Republic of China Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the northeast ...

*歐冶子

Ou Yezi Ou Yezi () was a legendary master of sword-making in the Spring and Autumn period. According to '' Yuejueshu'', he forged five treasured swords for Gan Jiang and King Zhao of Chu, named, respectively, ''Zhanlu'' (湛卢), ''Juque'' (巨阙), ' ...

master of sword-making from the

*歐震

Ou Zhen Ou Zhen (, 1899–1969), or Ou Chen, was a KMT army general from Qujiang, Guangdong. He was active in the Second Sino-Japanese War during World War II. He was a commander in the Battle of Shanghai, the Battle of Wuhan (leading the 4th Corps, pa ...

(1899–1969),

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

-era

KMT The Kuomintang (KMT), also referred to as the Guomindang (GMD), the Nationalist Party of China (NPC) or the Chinese Nationalist Party (CNP), is a major political party in the Republic of China, initially on the Chinese mainland and in Tai ...

general *歐泓奕

Howey Ou Ou Hongyi (; IPA: ə̄u xʷúŋìː), also known by her English name Howey Ou, is a Chinese Environmental movement, environmental activist who organises the school strike for climate in Guilin in southern China, calling for more action to limit ...

, Chinese environmental activist

Au (not classified)

* Whitlow Au (1940–2020), Hawaiian bioacoustics specialist *

Celia Au Celia Au is a Hong Kong American actress and filmmaker based in Manhattan. She has appeared in the television series ''Lodge 49'' (2018–2019) and ''Wu Assassins'' (2019). Filmography Film Television series See also * Chinese people in ...

, Chinese American actress and filmmaker *

Allison Au Allison Au is a Canadian jazz saxophonist. She has been nominated twice for a Juno Award for best jazz album, winning once. Career Au was born to a Chinese father and a Jewish mother; her maternal grandmother is a Holocaust survivor. Au grew up ...

, Canadian jazz saxophonist * Elisa Au, American martial arts instructor *

Carl Au Carl Au (born 24 March 1987) is a British actor, dancer, and singer. Having begun his career aged eleven, he appeared in multiple musical productions, before receiving a scholarship at Arts Educational Schools, London, to study acting and music ...

, British actor, dancer, and singer

References

{{101-200 Most Common Family Names in Mainland China Chinese-language surnames Multiple Chinese surnames Yue (state)