Hu (surname)

Hu (胡) is a Chinese surname. In 2006, it was the 15th most common surname in China.[1][2] In 2013, it was the 13th most common in China, with 13.7 million Chinese sharing this surname.[3] In 2019 Hu was the fifteenth most common surname in Mainland China.[4]

Hu
Chinese name
Chinese胡
Vietnamese name
Vietnamese alphabetHồ
Korean name
Hangul호
Japanese name
Kanji胡

Some other less-common surnames pronounced Hu include 瓠, 護, 戶, 扈, 虎, 呼, 忽, 斛 and 壶. In Cantonese, “胡” is also pronounced as "Wu" or "Woo" or "Ow".

Meaning

In Classical Chinese, hú 胡 meant: "dewlap; wattle" and was a variant Chinese character for "how; why; what" (he 何), "long-lasting; far-reaching" (xia 遐), "part of a dagger-axe", hu- in "butterfly" (hudie 蝴蝶), or possibly "Northern Barbarians".[5]

History

According to tradition, the Hu (胡) surname has several historical origins. First, Hu could derive from the family of Duke Hu of Chen. King Wu of Zhou (r. 1046-043 BCE) enfeoffed his son-in-law Gui Man 媯滿 (supposedly a descendant of the legendary sage king Emperor Shun) with the state of Chen (in modern Henan Province). His posthumous name was Duke Hu, and some of his descendants adopted Hu as their surname. Second, Hu could derive from two Zhou vassal states named Hu 胡, one located near Luohe (Henan Province) or another near Fuyang (Anhui Province). Third, Hu could derive from non-Chinese people adopting it as their surname. For example, in the 496 Change of Xianbei names to Han names, Hegu/Gegu 紇骨 was changed to Hu 胡. Fourth, Hu could derive from the clan name of the ancient Tiele people within the Xiongnu confederation.

Non-Chinese peoples and ethnic minorities in China sometimes took the Chinese exonym for their ethnic group as their surname. The best example is Hu 胡, which was anciently used to refer to "barbarian" groups on the northern and western frontiers of China.

Hu (胡) was used for various northern and western peoples of non-Chinese stock. It was commonly used for people of Persian, Sogdian, Turkic, Xianbi, Indian and Kushan origin and, occasionally, for the Xiongnu (probably because of their connections with the Tonghu or Eastern Hu – a separate tribe conquered by the Xiongnu).[6]

Two historically significant Hu names are this Donghu 東胡 (literally "Eastern Barbarians") "ancient Mongolian nomadic group" and the Wu Hu 五胡 ("Five Barbarians") "five nomadic tribes involved in the Wu Hu uprising" (304-316 CE) against the Jin Dynasty. Hu (Foochow Romanized: Hù; POJ: Hô or Ô) was also one of the eight surnames of the first Han Chinese clans who first moved out the Central Plains into Fujian province (八姓入閩; Foochow Romanized: Báik Sáng Ĭk Mìng) during this conflict.

The Hồ 胡 clan which founded the Hồ dynasty in Vietnam originated in Zhejiang province of China.[7][8]

The Hu family of Xidi are descended from Hu Shiliang, from Wuyuan, who was a descendant of Hu Changyi, a son of Emperor Zhaozong of Tang who was adopted by the Wuyuan Hu family.[9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16]

The surname 虎 (Hǔ), which means "Tiger", is rare in China to the point where many people are not aware that it is used as a surname. Some believe it comes from the name of a 4,300-year-old chancellor, while others believe it originates among the Hui Muslim minority.[17][18][19]

Notable people
Hu Jintao (胡锦涛)
Hu Dahai (胡大海)
  • Hu Angang, Tsinghua University professor
  • Hu Bin, Chinese freestyle swimmer
  • Hu Chen-pu, Minister of Veterans Affairs Commission of the ROC (2007–2008)
  • Chih-Wei Hu, MLB pitcher
  • Chin-lung Hu (born 1984), MLB player
  • Hu Chuanzhi, CEO of the China State Shipbuilding Corporation
  • Hu Chunhua 胡春华, member of the Politburo of the Communist Party of China
  • Hu Dahai, 14th century Hui Muslim general
  • David Hu, American mathematician, roboticist, and biologist
  • Hu Denghui 胡登辉, former Chinese international footballer
  • Hu Die, actress, "Movie Queen" of the 1930s
  • Hu Feng 胡风, Chinese writer and theorist of arts and literature
  • Hu Fo, Taiwanese political scientist and activist
  • Evelyn Hu, Harvard University professor of applied physics and engineering
  • Evelyn Hu-DeHart, Brown University professor of history and American studies
  • Frank Hu, Harvard University professor of medicine and public health
  • Hu Ge 胡歌, actor
  • Hu Haichang (born 1928), Chinese mechanical and astronautic engineer
  • Hu Haiyan, Chinese academician and scientist
  • Hu Hanmin, influential Kuomintang politician
  • Hu Hesheng (born 1928), Chinese mathematician
  • Jayley Woo and her twin sister Hayley Woo (born 27 December 1991), Singaporean actresses
  • Jason Hu 胡志强, Republic of China politician
  • Hu Jia 胡佳, a jailed pro-democracy activist in the People's Republic of China
  • Jianying Hu, American engineer
  • Hu Jimin (1919–1998), Chinese nuclear and plasma physicist and educator
  • Hu Jintao 胡锦涛, former General Secretary of the Communist Party of China and the paramount leader of China
  • Hu Jinqiu (born 1997), Chinese basketball player
  • Julia Hu (born 985), American entrepreneur
  • Hu Jun (born 1968), Chinese actor
  • Kelly Hu 胡凯丽, American actress
  • Hu Lanqi 胡兰畦, writer and one of the first women generals of the Republic of China
  • Hu Lien 胡璉, Chinese Nationalist general
  • Myolie Wu 胡杏兒, Hong Kong singer and actress
  • Hu Nai-yuan, Taiwanese violinist
  • Hu Ning (1916–1997), Chinese theoretical physicist and educator
  • Hu Peizhao, Chinese economist and a professor at Xiamen University
  • Hu Ping Chinese actress
  • Hu Qiaomu 胡乔木, People's Republic of China politician
  • Hu Qili 胡启立, former member of the Politburo Standing Committee of the Communist Party of China
  • Richard Hu 胡赐道, former Finance Minister of Singapore
  • S. Jack Hu, University of Georgia administrator and professor of engineering
  • Hu Shih 胡适, Chinese writer and scholar
  • Hu Songshan 虎嵩山 Chinese Hui Muslim Imam of the Yihewani sect
  • Ting-Ting Hu (born 1979), English-born Taiwanese actress
  • Hu Weide 胡惟德, politician and diplomat of the Qing dynasty and the Republic of China
  • Wei-Shou Hu, Taiwanese-American chemical engineer
  • Wen-mei Hwu 胡文美, American computer engineer
  • Yuen Pau Woo 胡元豹, Canadian senator and facilitator of the Independent Senators Group
  • Hu Xiansu (1894–1968) Chinese botanist
  • Gordon Ying Sheung Wu 胡應湘, chairman of the board of Hopewell Holdings Ltd.
  • Hu Yaobang 胡耀邦, former Chairman and General Secretary of the Communist Party of China
  • Hu Yepin 胡也频, Chinese writer, poet, and playwright, prominent Chinese socialist
  • Yi Hu, American engineer
  • Hu Yitian 胡一天, Chinese actor
  • Yuenyong Opakul, Thai singer, musician, songwriter and entrepreneur
  • Hu Zaobin 胡藻斌, early 20th-century Chinese painter, famous for painting tigers
  • Hu Zongnan, ROC general
  • Hu Zongxian 胡宗憲, Chinese general during the Ming dynasty
  • Hồ Dynasty of Vietnam 胡朝:
gollark: A great feature of pancakes is that you can just stick another into the top half of a reactor for more power.
gollark: Wow, pancakes are taking off!
gollark: Air is wasted space. Add enderium.
gollark: I'd prefer to NOT be penalized for wanting to adjust the output of my reactor dynamically and then ending up overcooling it.
gollark: I want ununoctium.

See also
  • Ho, variant of surname Hu
  • Oh or Ow, Fujian variant of surname Hu

References
  1. China renews top 100 surnames, Li still the biggest, People's Daily Online, January 11, 2006.
  2. Meaning of Chinese names - H
  3. "Bloomberg - Are you a robot?".
  4. http://www.bjnews.com.cn/news/2020/01/20/676822.html
  5. Bernhard Karlgren. Grammata Serica Recensa. Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities. 1957:34.
  6. Hill, John E. (2009) Through the Jade Gate to Rome: A Study of the Silk Routes during the Later Han Dynasty, 1st to 2nd Centuries CE, p. 192. BookSurge, Charleston, South Carolina. ISBN 978-1-4392-2134-1.
  7. Taylor 2013, p. 166.
  8. ed. Hall 2008, p. 161.
  9. "Xidi Village". ChinaTour.Net.
  10. "China Xidi-Huangshan Xidi-Welcome To Xidi". China Xidi.
  11. "Xidi village ancient village in the south of Anhui". China Escapade.
  12. "Xidi Village". Meet China.
  13. 周, 倩, ed. (2015-07-07). "Ancient Villages in Southern Anhui – Xidi and Hongcun". English Rednet.
  14. "Two Beauties Below Yellow Mountain". China Digital Review. July 27, 2015.
  15. "Snapshot of Me: Villages of an Hui". 2012-08-25.
  16. "Ancient Villages in Southern Anhui - Xidi and Hongcun" (PDF). UNESCO World Heritage Centre. 2 December 2000.
  17. Wang, Guanqun, ed. (2010-02-10). ""Tiger" a rare but strong family name in China". Xinhua. Retrieved 30 April 2013.
  18. "'Tiger' rare but strong family name in China". China Daily. 2010-02-10. Retrieved 30 April 2013.
  19. Yang, Chiu-ying (Mar 25, 2009). "Man on the hunt for rare family names". Taipei Times. p. 4. Retrieved 30 April 2013.
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