Chou (周)
A Taiwanese surname.
周 Chou
- Zhuyin
- ㄓㄡ
- Pinyin
- zhōu
- Wade-Giles
- Chou
- Further spellings of 周
- Jou, Jhou, Zhou
- Taiwanese Hokkien (Tâi-lô)
- Tsiu
- Hakka (Sixian)
- zu²⁴
- Rank in Taiwan
- 21st most common surname, roughly 1.21% of the population (2023 Ministry of the Interior figures)
What the character means
'Thorough, complete'; 'circuit, cycle'; 'week'; it is also the name of the Zhou dynasty.
Where the surname comes from
It is traced mainly to descendants of the Zhou royal house (Ji 姬 clan), who adopted the dynasty's name after it fell to Qin; the Runan (汝南) branch grew especially prominent. Hall name (堂號): 汝南堂.
Saying it 我姓周 — wǒ xìng zhōu (ㄨㄛˇ ㄒㄧㄥˋ ㄓㄡ), "my family name is 周"
Sources: rank and share, 內政部 全國姓名統計分析 (Ministry of the Interior, National Name Statistics), data as of 2023-06-30. Taiwanese Hokkien readings, 教育部臺灣台語常用詞辭典 (MOE Dictionary of Frequently-Used Taiwanese Taigi), 百家姓 appendix. Hakka, 教育部臺灣客語辭典 (MOE Dictionary of Taiwan Hakka), 百家姓表, Sixian (四縣腔).