Tu Surname

Surname Overview

The Tu surname ranks 238th among Chinese surnames today, has a relatively small population, and accounts for about 0.03% of China’s Han population.

Reference: 屠氏家谱网 提供4个省区市的34部屠氏家谱、屠氏族谱

Origins

Two Origins

The Tu surname has two branches, from the Zi and Qi surnames. One derives from a branch of King Tang of Shang enfeoffed at Tu and adopted the settlement name; the other derives from Tu Kuai, a spring-and-autumn period food administrator of Jin, whose descendants adopted the official title as a surname.

Reference: 屠姓起源分布与家谱家族

Historical Records

Historical Distribution

During the Song dynasty, the Tu surname had fewer than 10,000 people, mainly in Hubei and Zhejiang. During the Ming dynasty, it had about 73,000 people, concentrated mainly in Zhejiang, followed by Guangxi, Hubei, and Jiangsu.

Reference: 屠姓起源分布与家谱家族

Commanderies and Clan Halls

Hall Names

Genealogical entries record Bao lun Tang as the hall name of the jointly compiled genealogy for the Geqiao and Lanling branches in Changzhou, and Ji qin Tang as the hall name of the Yongshang Tu genealogy in Ningbo.

Reference: 屠氏家谱网 提供4个省区市的34部屠氏家谱、屠氏族谱

Migration and Distribution

Contemporary Distribution

Today, Tu surname users’ registered ancestral regions are mainly Zhejiang, Jiangsu, and Shanghai, with listed shares of 56.5%, 18.1%, and 10.9%, respectively.

Reference: 屠姓起源分布与家谱家族

Genealogy and Generation Names

Genealogies and Migration Ancestors

The genealogy of the Xialinxi Tu branch in Puyang records that Tu Qu, from Bohai, moved south with the imperial entourage at the end of the Northern Song and settled below Linxi in Puyang, with Tu Lu as the first generation. The Yongshang Tu genealogy records that Tu Bangyan moved from Wuxi to Yin during the reign of Emperor Lizong of Song and settled north of Taohua Ferry and south of the Yong River as the founding migrant ancestor.

Reference: 屠氏家谱网 提供4个省区市的34部屠氏家谱、屠氏族谱