Chinese中文
胡
Hú
Native name formChinese · east Asia
Hu
dewlap; wattle; also a historical term for northern and western peoples
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Several traditions behind Hu
The Dictionary of American Family Names links 胡 to ancient states named Hu, the title of Duke Hu of Chen, and name changes among Xianbei families. These explanations describe different surname traditions and do not establish one shared ancestry.
An old character with several uses
The character's older senses include an animal's dewlap or wattle. It was also historically used for northern and western peoples. Cantonese Wu or Woo and Japanese Ko are associated readings; Ko here is a character reading, not a claim about a particular Japanese family.
Related names in East Asia
Only sourced connections in East Asian naming traditions appear here. Each form explains its relationship to this name; a shared character or reading does not establish a shared family line.
2 East Asian languages documented.
Japanese日本語
胡
Ko
Character reading · not a surname equivalentSmall details. Longer histories.
Fun facts
We are still collecting verified facts for this name.
Artifacts & historical records
Objects and records can illuminate a particular person or community. They do not establish the ancestry of everyone with the same surname.
No verified artifact has been added to this record yet.
Places & sources
Geographic context: China (representative country context). No worldwide distribution dataset is attached yet.
- Hu (surname) — Wikipediareference · checked 2026-10-05
- Hu surname entry — Dictionary of American Family Names, 2nd ed. (2022), via Ancestryreference · checked 2026-10-05
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