Zou
A surname of uncertain origin, most often treated as a Chinese family name in modern use.
The #7,408 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 68,717 Americans shares it.
Etymology
The provided historical excerpts do not give a usable etymology for this surname; the apparent dictionary hit is too damaged to read confidently. In modern usage, Zou is best known as a Chinese surname, commonly represented by the Mandarin romanization of several different Chinese characters. Because the same spelling can reflect more than one Chinese family name, the literal original meaning cannot be given from the evidence here without knowing the underlying characters.
History
Zou is widely encountered as a romanized Chinese surname, especially in English-language records and diaspora communities. The spelling became standardized through modern romanization systems, but different Chinese lineages may share this same Latin-letter form. The old European dictionary excerpt appears to be OCR noise rather than a real surname explanation, so it adds no reliable historical detail.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
One Latin spelling, Zou, can stand for more than one Chinese surname depending on the characters and romanization system used.
From the historical record
“ZOU Tonens, for 1I^A^". Youlll. See V(jI-i;li. Youle. 'SVc YoCLLT.. Yonlea. .S>.> Yol LT. Young^. William Juvun or Ju-”
— The Norman People and their existing descendants in the British dominions and the United States