Wu (surname)

Wu (surname)

Wu is the Pinyin transliteration of the Chinese surname 吳 (Traditional Chinese), 吴 (Simplified Chinese), which is the tenth most common surname in Mainland China. Several other, less common Chinese surnames with different pronunciations are also transliterated into English as "Wu": 武, 伍, 仵, 烏, 鄔 and 巫. The Cantonese and Hakka transliteration of 吳 is Ng, a syllable made entirely of a nasal consonant while the Min Nan transliteration of 吳 is Goh or Ngoh, depending on the regional variations in Min Nan pronunciation. In Vietnamese, many of those are read differently, for example Võ or Vũ for 武, Ngô for 吳, Ô for 烏.

Wu (or Woo or Wou) is also the Cantonese transliteration of the different Chinese surname 胡 (see Hu), used in Hong Kong, and by overseas Chinese of Cantonese speaking areas of Guangdong, or Hong Kong origin.

吳 is also one of the most common surnames in Korea. It is spelled 오 in Hangul and romanized O by the three major romanization systems, but more commonly spelled Oh in South Korea. It is also related far back in Chinese history with the name "Zhou".

"Wu" (吴) can be translated into English as "god-like" or "the highest." As shown by some translations from ancient texts.

The few famous people with the family name of "Wu" in China were emperors or warriors. However, there are many well-known doctors and politicians with this surname.