The To surname
In the 2010 U.S. Census, 8,934 people carried this name — #3,979 among all U.S. surnames, about 1 in every 33,000 people counted. That is up 28% from 6,979 in 2000.
Where the name comes from
The origin of the To surname
Borrowed from Cantonese 杜 (dou6), 陶 (tou4), 塗／涂 (tou4), 屠 (tou4), etc.
From Wiktionary, the free dictionary (en.wiktionary.org) — entry «To» (English), by Wiktionary contributors · licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0) · excerpt, lightly adapted.
In France’s civil register
France’s register of deaths holds 134 people named To.
Most of them — 120 — were born outside France. Those born in France came from 10 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
110 people named To live in Switzerland.
They live in 11 of Switzerland’s 26 cantons, most of all in Vaud.
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 Belgium’s population register
At least 95 people named To 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 East Flanders.
Too few records to say where it concentrates region by region — these are plain counts, not shares.
Where they live today
Statbel (Statistics Belgium), family names of the population by municipality, 1 January 2026 — CC BY 4.0.
In the Nordic population registers
235 people named To are counted in Sweden and Finland.
Sweden’s figure is from 31 December 2022, the last count Statistics Sweden published. 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) · Digital and Population Data Services Agency (DVV), Finland, surname statistics, August 2026 — CC BY 4.0.
In print
To in American newspapers,
1854–1938.
Chronicling America, Library of Congress — digitised newspapers in the public domain · 22,875,572 pages in all carry the name.
Who carried it
People named To,
with a public archive behind them.
-
James To 1963– · lawyer -
To Kwan Hang Andrew 1966– · politician -
Chapman To 1972– · actor -
Marcus To 1983– · comics artist -
Man-Kei To 1986– · badminton player -
Si-hwan To 1966– · historian
Wikidata and Wikimedia Commons (CC0) · 14 lives in all are documented under this name.
Nearby in the index
Surnames next to To.
When the index is not enough
This page says where To 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.