Hu Family History

Chinese: Mandarin form of the surname 胡 a term referring to the ethnic minorities in ancient northern and western China: (i) from Hu (胡) the name of an ancient state (located in present-day Henan province) during the Western Zhou dynasty (1046–771 BC). After it was annexed by the state of Zheng (located in present-day Shaanxi and Henan provinces) in the 26th year of the reign of King Ping of Zhou (died 720 BC) people from the fief adopted 胡 the name of the state as their surname. (ii) from Hu (胡) the name of a state (located in present-day Anhui province). After it was annexed by the state of Chu in the 15th year of the reign of Duke Ding of Lu (ruler of the state of Lu reigned 509–495 BC) people from the fief adopted 胡 the name of the state as their surname. (iii) from the personal name of Hu Gong Man (胡公满 Duke Hu of Chen) the posthumous title of Yu Man. He was given the fief of Chen (located mainly in present-day Henan and Anhui province) by King Wu of Zhou (c. 1087–1043 BC). (iv) from the personal name of Hu Guang (胡廣) who changed his original surname 黃 to 胡 during the Eastern Han dynasty (25–220 AD). (v) from the Hu Gu (胡骨) or He Gu (纥骨) families from the Xianbei ethnic group in northern China who changed their surname to 胡 during the Northern Wei dynasty (386–534 AD). Chinese: Mandarin form of the surname 扈 meaning ‘retinue’ in ancient Chinese: (i) from Hu (扈) the name of an ancient state (located in present-day Shaanxi province) dating back to the Xia dynasty (2070–1600 BC) (ii) adopted as a surname by the Hu Di Gan (扈地干) family from the Xianbei ethnic group in northern China during the Northern Wei dynasty (386–534 AD). Chinese: Mandarin form of the surname 呼 meaning ‘exhale’ in Chinese: (i) said to be borne by the descendants of Hu Zixian (呼子先) an astrologist during the Han dynasty (206 BC–220 AD). (ii) shortened form of the compound surname Hu-Yan (呼延) a surname from the Xianbei ethnic group in northern China. (iii) a surname from other minority ethnic groups in northern China. Chinese: Mandarin form of the surname 虎 meaning ‘tiger’ in Chinese: (i) said to be from the second element of the personal name Bo Hu (伯虎) a legendary talented figure during the Xia dynasty (2070–1600 BC); (ii) possibly from totems of some tribes. Chinese: variant Romanization of the surnames 傅 付 符 and 扶 possibly based on their Teochew or Hokkien pronunciations see Fu 1- Chinese: variant Romanization of the surname 許 possibly based on its Teochew or Hokkien pronunciation see Xu 7: Chinese: variant Romanization of the surnames 邱 and 丘 see Qiu 1 and 8: In some cases also Amerindian (Mexico): variant of Huh ‘iguana’.9: In some cases also Amerindian (Guatemala; Hú): probably a cognate of the name in 8 above.10: In some cases possibly also French: nickname from Old French hu ‘outcry noise’.

Source: Dictionary of American Family Names 2nd edition, 2022