Su (蘇)
A Taiwanese surname.
蘇 Su
- Zhuyin
- ㄙㄨ
- Pinyin
- sū
- Wade-Giles
- Su
- Taiwanese Hokkien (Tâi-lô)
- Soo
- Hakka (Sixian)
- su²⁴
- Rank in Taiwan
- 23rd most common surname, roughly 1.14% of the population (2023 Ministry of the Interior figures)
What the character means
Perilla (紫蘇); 'to revive'; it is also short for Jiangsu and Suzhou.
Where the surname comes from
Tradition traces it to Kunwu (昆吾), a descendant of Zhuanxu. Under the Zhou, Su Fensheng (蘇忿生) held the state of Su in present-day Henan; once it fell, its people adopted Su as their surname. Hall name (堂號): 武功堂.
Saying it 我姓蘇 — wǒ xìng sū (ㄨㄛˇ ㄒㄧㄥˋ ㄙㄨ), "my family name is 蘇"
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).