 The Chinese character 蘇 inseal script | |
| Romanisation | Su, Soo, So, Soh, Sou, Souw, Thu, Tô |
|---|---|
| Pronunciation | Sū(MandarinPinyin) Sou1(CantoneseJyutping) So͘(HokkienPe̍h-ōe-jī) |
| Languages | Chinese languages, Japanese, Vietnamese, Korean, Filipino |
Su is thepinyinromanization of thecommonChinese surname written苏 insimplified characters and蘇traditionally.
It was listed 42nd among theSong-era list of theHundred Family Surnames.
In 2019 it was the 46th most common surname in mainland China.[1]
TheWade form of the name is identical to the pinyin, but it is also sometimes irregularly romanized asSoo.
蘇 and苏 are also romanizedSo andSou inCantonese;Soh andSouw inSouthern Min dialects; andThu inGan.
This Chinese name is also the source of theVietnamese surnameTô (Chữ Nôm:蘇); theKorean surname소, which isromanizedSo; theJapanese surname蘇, which is alsoromanizedSo; and the Filipino/Tagalog surnameSo. Also, the Filipino family name "Solon" is aHispanicized version of So. The Solon clan coming from Cebu are famous for their ancestors who were government officials. The Solons were originally fromCanton.
Su was the41st-most-common Chinese surname in themainland during the1982 census and the 45th-most-common in the 2007 report onhousehold registrations released by theChinese Ministry of Public Security. It has been listed as the23rd-most-common Chinese surname inTaiwan.[2]
Su is a somewhat common surname in theUnited States, listed 5,897th during the1990 census and 3,835th during the year2000 one.[3] The other romanizations are less popular: So (8527 & 5167), Soo (17545 & 22160), Sou (77891 & 30226), Thu (49039 & 64912), and Soh (unlisted & 40074); Souw had fewer than one hundred resident bearers in the United States during both censuses and was unlisted both times.[3]
Statistics Canada does not release surname lists from its censuses, but Su and So were both listed among the 200-most-common peculiarlyChinese-Canadian surnames in a 2010 survey of theRegistered Persons Database of all current and formerCanadian health card recipients in the province ofOntario.[4]
The character蘇 was formed by the addition of thegrass radical (艹) to the phonetic component穌.
The original pronunciation of 穌 has been reconstructed as*s.ŋˤa inOld Chinese, but this had already developed intosu by the time ofMiddle Chinese.[5] The addition of the grass radical suggests its original meaning was its use describing varieties of the mintperilla, but its general meaning today is as an abbreviation forSuzhou and replacement for a related word meaning "revive".
As with many Chinese surnames, however, there are a variety of separate legends and origins told about the current bearers of the name.[6][7]
One origin derives from Fan, purported to be the eldest grandson of the six great-great-great-great-grandsons of theYellow Emperor and said to have lived inKunwu (昆吾), the northeast region ofYuncheng inShanxi. During theXia dynasty, KingHuai orFen gaveYousu (有蘇}, modernSuling (肅靈?) inHenan) to the rulers of Kunwu as a fief and they established it as theState of Su. This perished in the lateShang dynasty – whose fall was traditionally blamed upon the beautiful concubineSu Daji, – but its rulers and people took the state's name as theirclan name and moved elsewhere.
Another derives fromSu Chasheng who wasMinister of Justice under KingWu of theZhou dynasty and revived the former region of Su as his fief, with a new capital city atWen (modernWen County inHenan). He is also considered to be the ancestor of theWen[which?] family.
Prior to theQin dynasty, the Su clan mainly resided in Henan andHebei, but, during theWarring States period, one group moved southward intoHubei andHunan and another west intoShaanxi. Under the Qin and Han, this Shaanxi clan became a prominent and distinguished family while a third group of clans moved east intoShandong.
Another origin was from aHan-eraethnic group inLiaodong, whose family name Wuyuanyousu (烏垣有蘇) was later shortened into Su during theNorthern Wei.
Large numbers of Su moved intoSichuan andFujian during theTang dynasty. During theNorthern Song, they moved further southward toGuizhou,Guangdong, andGuangxi. Their current relative popularity in Taiwan began following migrations during theMing andQing.
In the Philippines, the rare family nameSolon derives from the surnameSo/Su.[citation needed]
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Over 1,000 representatives of Soh Clan Associations from around the world meet every two years at the Congress of the World Federation of Soh Associations. Participants hail from China, Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, South Korea, the Philippines, Australia, America and Europe. The first congress was held in Manila in 1994.[9]
