The Poon surname

In the 2010 U.S. Census, 4,564 people carried this name — #7,308 among all U.S. surnames, about 1 in every 64,500 people counted. That is up 13% from 4,051 in 2000.

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Where the name comes from

The origin of the Poon surname

A Chinese surname from Cantonese.

Borrowed from Cantonese 潘 (pun¹).

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary (en.wiktionary.org) — entry «Poon» (English), by Wiktionary contributors · licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0) · excerpt, lightly adapted.

In the Nordic population registers

80 people named Poon is counted in Sweden.

Sweden’s figure is from 31 December 2022, the last count Statistics Sweden published.

Counted, by country

Sweden (2022) 80

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

Poon in American newspapers,
1901–1902.

Newspaper page from The Hawaiian Star carrying the name Poon
The Hawaiian Star 1901-10-08
Newspaper page from The Hawaiian Star carrying the name Poon
The Hawaiian Star 1902-03-03

Chronicling America, Library of Congress — digitised newspapers in the public domain · 53,671 pages in all carry the name.

In print

Poon in Australian newspapers,
1840s–2000s.

2,999 articles name a Mr, Mrs or Miss Poon. The most, 1,174, date from the 1910s. Weighed against how much of each state’s press from the same decades has been digitised, it stands out most in Queensland, at 2.4 times its expected share.

Articles, by state

Queensland 1,388
New South Wales 643
Victoria 589
South Australia 192
Tasmania 89
Western Australia 78
ACT (Canberra) 8
Northern Territory 2

Trove, National Library of Australia (trove.nla.gov.au) · articles in its digitised newspapers that name a Mr, Mrs or Miss Poon.

Who carried it

People named Poon,
with a public archive behind them.

  • Hunter Poon
    Hunter Poon 1894–1980 · soldier
  • Poon Tuck Ming
    Poon Tuck Ming 1908–1976 · traveler
  • Annie Poon 1901– · animator
  • Liona C. Poon 1901– · researcher
  • Poon Man-kit 1956–2025 · screenwriter
  • Poon Man-kit 1956–2025 · screenwriter

Wikidata (CC0) · portraits via Wikimedia Commons, shown cropped, in the public domain or CC0 · 10 lives in all are documented under this name.

In the public record

People named Poon,
in the records of 5 countries.

Soldiers, farmers, migrants and neighbours who carried the name and left a trace in public archives. Everyone shown here died long ago or was born more than a century ago.

United States72 records

72 records of the Poon name in the United States
  • U.S. alien registration index, 1940–1955 48
  • U.S. Army enlistment records, World War II 16
  • Passenger arrivals in the United States, 1820–1912 3
  • U.S. veterans' cemetery records, burials to 2001 3
  • New York City birth, marriage and death certificates 2
  1. A United States Selective Service registration card, 1942
    Example: U.S. registration card, 1942
    Military record Lee S. Poon

    Born 1917. Enlisted 1941 at San Francisco, California; janitor from San Francisco County.

    U.S. National Archives, WWII Army Enlistment Records (public domain)
  2. A passenger manifest of the S.S. St. Paul, arriving at New York in 1903
    Example: passenger manifest, 1903
    Passenger record Jn. Poon

    Arrived at New York in 1866 aboard the Kangaroo from Liverpool, aged 25; shoemaker. From Great Britain.

    U.S. National Archives, Castle Garden Immigration Center Collection, Ship Passenger Records (unrestricted)
  3. A U.S. Army record of death and interment, Camp Nelson, Kentucky, 1864
    Example: U.S. burial record, 1864
    Burial record Howard Poon

    U.S. Marine Corps veteran. Born 1931, died 1958; buried at Samson City Cemetery, Geneva, Alabama.

    U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Gravesite Locator (CC0)

Showing 3 of 72 records for Poon in the United States.

Counts: U.S. National Archives, Flexoline Index Data File (public domain) · U.S. National Archives, WWII Army Enlistment Records (public domain) · U.S. National Archives, Castle Garden Immigration Center Collection, Ship Passenger Records (unrestricted) · U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Gravesite Locator (CC0) · NYC Department of Records & Information Services, Historical Vital Records (NYC Open Data). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: U.S. Selective Service registration card, 1942 (public domain); Passenger manifest of the S.S. St. Paul, New York, 1903 (public domain); Record of death and interment, Camp Nelson, Kentucky, 1864, U.S. National Archives (public domain).

Canada33 records

33 records of the Poon name in Canada
  • City of Calgary cemetery records 29
  • Mountain View Cemetery, Vancouver 4
  1. Fairview Lawn Cemetery in Halifax, Nova Scotia
    Example: Canadian cemetery
    Burial record Maria Shiow Mei Poon

    Buried in 1995 at Queen's Park Cemetery, Calgary, Alberta, aged 47.

    City of Calgary. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – City of Calgary.
  2. Fairview Lawn Cemetery in Halifax, Nova Scotia
    Example: Canadian cemetery
    Burial record Kheng Oi Poon

    Died 1995; buried at Mountain View Cemetery, Vancouver, British Columbia.

    City of Vancouver. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Vancouver.
  3. Fairview Lawn Cemetery in Halifax, Nova Scotia
    Example: Canadian cemetery
    Burial record Nellie Poon

    Buried in 1986 at Chinese Cemetery, Calgary, Alberta, aged 82.

    City of Calgary. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – City of Calgary.

Showing 3 of 33 records for Poon in Canada.

Counts: City of Calgary. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – City of Calgary. · City of Vancouver. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Vancouver. Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Fairview Lawn Cemetery, Halifax, photo by Edgar El (CC BY 3.0).

Australia32 records

32 records of the Poon name in Australia
  • Victoria wills and probate, deaths to 2001 22
  • Victoria passenger lists, 1839–1923 9
  • War Office casualty lists, 1917–1919, among the dead 1
  1. A petition to the probate court of St. Louis, 1848
    Example: probate petition, 1848
    Probate record Gun Sing Poon

    Hawker of Melbourne, Victoria; died 1919.

    Public Record Office Victoria (CC BY 4.0)
  2. A passenger manifest of the S.S. St. Paul, arriving at New York in 1903
    Example: passenger manifest, 1903
    Passenger record George Poon

    Arrived in Victoria in 1920 aboard the St Albans, aged 41.

    Public Record Office Victoria (CC BY 4.0)
  3. A page of the Livre d’or of the French war dead, Paris
    Example: roll of the war dead
    War record H. R. G. Poon

    Australian Infantry. Listed among the dead in the War Office casualty list of 1917.

    National Library of Scotland, War Office Weekly Casualty Lists (public domain)

Showing 3 of 32 records for Poon in Australia.

Counts: Public Record Office Victoria (CC BY 4.0) · National Library of Scotland, War Office Weekly Casualty Lists (public domain). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Petition to the probate court, St. Louis, 1848, Missouri Historical Society (public domain); Passenger manifest of the S.S. St. Paul, New York, 1903 (public domain); Livre d’or of the war dead, Paris, Ministère des pensions, Archives nationales (CC0).

Netherlands16 records

16 records of the Poon name in the Netherlands
  • Dutch civil registers (births, marriages, deaths) 6
  • Dutch population registers 5
  • Dutch church registers before 1811 5
  1. A marriage entry in the civil register of Tilburg, 1911
    Example: marriage register, 1911
    Marriage record Wilhelmus Gerardus Johannes Poon

    Married in 1864 in 's-Gravenhage; tailor.

    Open Archives, Haags Gemeentearchief (CC BY 4.0)
  2. A page of the Berlin civil register, 1880
    Example: civil register, 1880
    Death record Elisabeth Poon

    Died 1818 in Den Haag, aged 51.

    Open Archives, Nationaal Archief Rijksarchief Zuid-Holland (CC BY 4.0)
  3. A page of the burial register of Newtown, Wales, 1858
    Example: burial register, 1858
    Burial record Meritie Poon

    Buried in 1740 in Laren.

    Open Archives, Streekarchief Gooi en Vechtstreek (CC BY 4.0)

Showing 3 of 16 records for Poon in the Netherlands.

Counts: Open Archives (CC BY 4.0). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Marriage register, Tilburg, 1911, Regionaal Archief Tilburg (public domain); Civil register, Berlin, 1880, Landesarchiv Berlin (CC0); Burial register of Newtown, Montgomeryshire, 1858, National Library of Wales (CC0).

France2 records

2 records of the Poon name in France France's national death register, 1970–2001
  1. A page of the death register of Nice, 1930
    Example: French death register, 1930
    Death record Wai-Haing Poon

    Born 1918 in China; died 1991 in Lagny-sur-Marne (Seine-et-Marne).

    Insee, Fichier des personnes décédées (Licence Ouverte)
  2. A page of the death register of Nice, 1930
    Example: French death register, 1930
    Death record Montai Poon

    Born 1915 in China; died 1998 in Bobigny (Seine-Saint-Denis).

    Insee, Fichier des personnes décédées (Licence Ouverte)

Counts: Insee, Fichier des personnes décédées (Licence Ouverte). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Death register of Nice, 1930, Archives départementales des Alpes-Maritimes (public domain).

Nearby in the index

Surnames next to Poon.

When the index is not enough

This page says where Poon 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.

See the Poon volume
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