The Ou surname
In the 2010 U.S. Census, 4,196 people carried this name — #7,891 among all U.S. surnames, about 1 in every 70,400 people counted. That is up 73% from 2,422 in 2000.
In France’s civil register
France’s register of deaths holds 61 people named Ou.
Most of them — 46 — were born outside France. Those born in France came from 8 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 Switzerland’s population statistics
46 people named Ou live in Switzerland.
They live in 5 of Switzerland’s 26 cantons, most of all in Bern.
Too few records to say where it concentrates region by region — these are plain counts, not shares.
Where 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 the Nordic population registers
25 people named Ou is counted in Sweden.
Sweden’s figure is from 31 December 2022, the last count Statistics Sweden published.
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).
In print
Ou in American newspapers,
1894–1926.
Chronicling America, Library of Congress — digitised newspapers in the public domain · 6,400,345 pages in all carry the name.
Who carried it
People named Ou,
with a public archive behind them.
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Ou Guangchen d. 1653 · intellectual
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Ou Xin d. 1506 · politician
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Ou Xifan d. 1045 · rebel
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Ou Xifan d. 1045 · rebel
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Ou Pan d. 1507 · military commander
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Ou Qing 966–1029
Wikidata (CC0) · 10 lives in all are documented under this name.
Nearby in the index
Surnames next to Ou.
- Otten 4,396 · U.S. census
- Otter 1,331 · U.S. census
- Ottinger 3,112 · U.S. census
- Ottino 248 · U.S. census
- Ottmann 166 · U.S. census
- Otto 22,558 · U.S. census
- Oudin 126 · U.S. census
- Ouk 1,424 · U.S. census
- Ours 1,585 · U.S. census
- Oury 249 · U.S. census
- Outhier 151 · U.S. census
- Ouzounian 235 · U.S. census
When the index is not enough
This page says where Ou 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.