Vu
A Vietnamese surname, most often linked to a historical title or honorific rather than a family trade or place name.
The #962 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 8,534 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Vu is a Vietnamese family name. It is commonly connected with the Sino-Vietnamese word vũ, associated with “military,” “martial,” or “dance,” though surname origins in Vietnam can also reflect older Chinese-derived family naming traditions. In English-language records it is usually written Vu, a simplified romanization of a Vietnamese name that may correspond to several similar Vietnamese spellings and tones.
History
The surname is especially associated with Vietnamese communities, including the diaspora in the United States. In older romanization systems and in overseas records, tonal marks are often dropped, so one spelling may represent more than one Vietnamese original form. The name is relatively common in Vietnamese surname lists and is not usually analyzed as an occupational surname in the European sense.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Because Vietnamese tone marks are often omitted abroad, the same Latin-letter spelling can sometimes stand for different surnames or pronunciations in Vietnamese contexts.