The Lu surname
In the 2010 U.S. Census, 35,628 people carried this name — #978 among all U.S. surnames, about 1 in every 8,280 people counted. That is up 55% from 22,977 in 2000.
Where the name comes from
The origin of the Lu surname
A Chinese surname from Mandarin. A Chinese surname from Mandarin from 呂／吕 (Lǚ).
From Mandarin surname pronunciations
From Wiktionary, the free dictionary (en.wiktionary.org) — entry «Lu» (English), by Wiktionary contributors · licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0) · excerpt, lightly adapted.
In Switzerland’s population statistics
372 people named Lu live in Switzerland.
They live in 17 of Switzerland’s 26 cantons, most of all in Zurich.
Where it concentrates, on the mapWhere they live today
Swiss Federal Statistical Office (FSO), «Surnames of the permanent resident population by canton», 2025, opendata.swiss/en/dataset/nachnamen-der-standigen-wohnbevolkerung-nach-kanton3 · names with fewer than 3 bearers in a canton are not published.
In Belgium’s population register
At least 169 people named Lu live in Belgium.
Statbel only publishes a name in a municipality when five or more people there share it, so the real number is higher. Most of them live in Brussels-Capital.
Where it concentrates, on the mapWhere they live today
Statbel (Statistics Belgium), family names of the population by municipality, 1 January 2026 — CC BY 4.0.
In France’s civil register
France’s register of deaths holds 163 people named Lu.
Most of them — 148 — were born outside France. Those born in France came from 9 départements, most often Paris.
Too few records to say where it concentrates region by region — these are plain counts, not shares.
Where they were born
Fichier des personnes décédées, INSEE — Licence Ouverte 2.0 · deaths recorded in France since 1970, by place of birth.
In the Nordic population registers
1,019 people named Lu are counted in Sweden, Norway and Finland.
Sweden’s figure is from 31 December 2022, the last count Statistics Sweden published. Norway publishes only surnames with 200 or more bearers. Finland counts its citizens, at home or abroad.
Counted, by country
Own calculations based on data from Statistics Sweden (SCB), surnames with at least two bearers, 31 December 2022 — CC BY 4.0 (names with 20 or more bearers shown) · Statistics Norway (SSB, ssb.no), table 12891, 2025 — CC BY 4.0 · Digital and Population Data Services Agency (DVV), Finland, surname statistics, August 2026 — CC BY 4.0.
In print
Lu in American newspapers,
1901–1930.
Chronicling America, Library of Congress — digitised newspapers in the public domain · 5,630,410 pages in all carry the name.
Who carried it
People named Lu,
with a public archive behind them.
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Lu Guimeng d. 881 · writer
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Lu Huaishen d. 716 · poet
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Buliugu Li d. 465 · politician
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Lu Hongzheng d. 850 · politician
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Lu Zhiyuan d. 1141 · politician
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Lu Zhiyu d. 1645 · military personnel
Wikidata (CC0) · 7 lives in all are documented under this name.
Nearby in the index
Surnames next to Lu.
- Loyet 245 · U.S. census
- Loza 9,011 · U.S. census
- Lozano 57,779 · U.S. census
- Loze 103 · U.S. census
- Lozier 2,686 · U.S. census
- Lozzi 402 · U.S. census
- Lubert 337 · U.S. census
- Lubin 4,601 · U.S. census
- Lubrano 1,079 · U.S. census
- Luby 1,941 · U.S. census
- Luc 2,636 · U.S. census
- Luca 1,837 · U.S. census
When the index is not enough
This page says where Lu is.
A volume says what happened to it.
Every page in the index is free and stays free. The Heritage Volume is the long form: the full paper trail, the arms, the crossing — bound, and yours.