as a Last Name
- 10,966
- people in the U.S. have this name View all people named Xu
Meaning & Origins
Chinese 徐: from the name of the ancient state of Xu. The model emperor Yu (2205–2198 BC) granted this state to one of his retainers. The retainer's family governed the state from this time on until the Western Zhou dynasty (1122–771 BC), when the Xu prince of the time believed it to be God's will that he should oppose the Zhou dynasty, on account of a prophecy associated with a red bow and arrow that he pulled out of a river. The Zhou king, Mu Wang, was far away to the west in the Kunlun mountains, but raced back to confront and defeat the Xu prince (see Chao 1). Mu Wang then granted the state of Xu to the defeated prince's son, giving him the ‘style name’ of Xu. Descendants of this new ruler eventually adopted Xu as their surname.
| 2,841st in the U.S. for 2011 |
Nicknames & variations
Quick facts
- Thousands
- of people in the U.S have this name
- 10,966
- to be exact (as of February 2011)
- California
- has the most people named Xu per capita
Top state populations
U.S. Distribution Map
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