Chun
A surname likely from an old personal name, probably Welsh in origin, and later recorded in forms like Chown and Chowne.
The #2,740 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 23,495 Americans shares it.
Etymology
The 19th-century surname scholars cited here treat Chun as an old personal name, with surnames like Chown and Chowne explained as meaning “the son of Chun.” One line of scholarship connects it with a Welsh family name and suggests it is probably the same in sense as related medieval forms such as Chuon. The exact root of the personal name is not fully secure from these excerpts, so the safest reading is that the surname developed from a medieval given name rather than from an occupation or place-name.
History
Bardsley records medieval spellings in Cambridgeshire and Lincolnshire and treats Chown/Chowne as descendants of the older name Chun. Lower likewise mentions Chun as a Welsh family name and says Chown is from Chun. The surname survives today in a much simplified spelling, though many bearers may also have unrelated East and Southeast Asian origins not covered by these English surname sources.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Lower notes that Cornwall has an ancient ruin called Chun, also spelled Choon or Chowne, though that place-name is a separate line of evidence from the surname itself.
From the historical record
“UancheilFr, 15; Philidclpbia. 4, Chown, Chowne.— Bapt.' the son of Chun." Probably the same as Chuon (v. Chuonmund, Yonge, ii. 4n). Chnn Uenyn, co. Camb.. 1373, A.”
— A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames, with special American instances