The Tu surname
In the 2010 U.S. Census, 9,230 people carried this name — #3,835 among all U.S. surnames, about 1 in every 31,900 people counted. That is up 35% from 6,826 in 2000.
Where the name comes from
The origin of the Tu surname
Borrowed from Chinese. Most likely from the Hanyu Pinyin romanization of Mandarin 屠 (Tú) or 涂 (Tú).
From Wiktionary, the free dictionary (en.wiktionary.org) — entry «Tu» (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 115 people named Tu.
Most of them — 99 — were born outside France. Those born in France came from 6 départements, most often French Polynesia.
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
60 people named Tu live in Switzerland.
They live in 9 of Switzerland’s 26 cantons, most of all in Lucerne.
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
201 people named Tu 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
Tu in American newspapers,
1874–1944.
Chronicling America, Library of Congress — digitised newspapers in the public domain · 5,726,114 pages in all carry the name.
Who carried it
People named Tu,
with a public archive behind them.
-
Tu Yong 1440–1512 · politician -
Tu Long 1542–1605 · poet -
Tu Shen 1744–1801 · writer -
Tu Ji 1856–1921 · politician -
Tu Kuan 1879–1918 · politician
Wikidata and Wikimedia Commons (CC0) · 315 lives in all are documented under this name.
Nearby in the index
Surnames next to Tu.
- Try 371 · U.S. census
- Tschanz 290 · U.S. census
- Tschirhart 798 · U.S. census
- Tschopp 357 · U.S. census
- Tschudy 459 · U.S. census
- Tschupp 104 · U.S. census
- Tua 296 · U.S. census
- Tucci 4,245 · U.S. census
- Tudela 472 · U.S. census
- Tuffin 100 · U.S. census
- Tugend 111 · U.S. census
- Tujague 158 · U.S. census
When the index is not enough
This page says where Tu 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.