Definition
Chu, also spelled Choo, is a Korean family name and a component used in Korean given names. Its meaning varies according to the hanja (Chinese character) employed to write it.
Overview
According to the 2000 South Korean Census, 55,309 individuals bore the surname Chu, making it the 64th‑most common Korean family name when written with the hanja 秋 (“autumn”). A smaller group—642 people—used the alternative hanja 鄒 (“State of Zou”), ranking it 190th in frequency. In a 2007 passport‑application survey by the National Institute of the Korean Language, 55.1 % of applicants with this surname chose the Romanisation “Chu,” while 43.1 % used “Choo.”
Etymology / Origin
The surname Chu can be represented by two distinct hanja:
- 秋 (pronounced chu), meaning “autumn.” This character originated as a Chinese surname pronounced Qiu in Mandarin and was later adopted in Korea.
- 鄒 (pronounced chu), meaning “State of Zou,” a historic polity in ancient China. This character also appears as the Chinese surname Zou in Mandarin but is rare in Korea.
Both characters entered Korean usage through the historical flow of Chinese characters into Korean onomastics. The Korean lineage (bon‑gwans) for the 秋 variant is not uniformly recorded, whereas the 鄒 variant lacks documented bon‑gwans in the census data.
Characteristics
- Romanisation: The Revised Romanisation of Korean renders the name as “Chu.” Under the older McCune–Reischauer system, it appears as “Ch’u.” Contemporary spelling preferences show a near‑even split between “Chu” and “Choo” in international documents.
- Frequency: The majority of bearers (≈99 %) use the 秋 character, with the remainder using 鄒.
- Given‑name usage: The South Korean government’s official hanja list permits 23 characters with the reading “chu” for use in personal names. Examples include:
- 秋 – “autumn”
- 追 – “to chase”
- 推 – “to push”
- 抽 – “to pluck”
- 醜 – “ugly”
- 樞 – “hinge”
- …and others covering meanings such as “awl,” “weight,” “wrinkle,” “loach,” etc.
- Notable individuals: Persons with the surname Chu/Choo span diverse fields, including singer‑actor Alex Chu, politician Choo Mi‑ae, actress Chu Jung‑hyun, and many athletes and entertainers.
Related Topics
- Korean surnames and the concept of bon‑gwan (clan origin)
- Korean given names and the governmental list of permissible hanja
- Romanisation systems for Korean (Revised Romanisation, McCune–Reischauer)
- Hanja (Chinese characters used in Korean language)
- Census data on Korean family names
- Comparative Chinese surnames Qiu (秋) and Zou (鄒)