Zhu
A common Chinese surname, most often written with the character 朱, meaning “vermilion” or “red.”
The #1,694 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 14,519 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Zhu is the romanization of several Chinese surnames, most commonly 朱. In Mandarin, 朱 originally referred to a bright red or vermilion color and was also used as a surname in early Chinese history. Because Chinese surnames are tied to Chinese characters rather than to one fixed spelling in the Latin alphabet, the same Roman spelling can represent different characters in different families.
History
The surname 朱 is ancient and widely distributed in China, and it has been carried abroad through migration from China to Southeast Asia, North America, and elsewhere. In English-language records it often appears as Zhu under pinyin romanization, though older systems and regional languages may render related surnames differently. The name is common enough that many unrelated families share it.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
朱 is one of several very old Chinese surnames that also began as a common word—in this case, a color term.