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劉 / 刘 (Liu, Lao, Lau, Leo, Low, Lauw, Lieu, Liew, Liw, Loo, Lew, Liou or Yu) is a Chinese surname. The Liu (/ljuː/) as transcribed in English can represent several different surnames written in different Chinese characters:

  • 劉 / 刘, pinyin: Liú in Mandarin Chinese, Lau: Cantonese. A surname, as it was the family name of Han dynasty emperors.
  • 柳 pinyin: Liǔ in Mandarin Chinese, Lau: Cantonese
  • 留 pinyin: Liú in Mandarin Chinese, Lau: Cantonese
  • 六 pinyin: Liù in Mandarin Chinese, Luk: Cantonese
  • 廖 pinyin: Liu6 in Cantonese, Liào: Mandarin Chinese
  • 侶 pinyin: Lǚ in Mandarin Chinese, Leoi5: Cantonese used in “情侣”

In Cantonese transliteration, 刘/劉 (Liú) is Lau, Lao is also a transliteration of 刘/劉 in Southern Min and Taiwanese Hokkien, while Liu is a different surname, 廖, pinyin: Liào.

In Shanghainese, 刘/劉 is romanized as Lieu and rarely Lieh; 柳 is similarly romanized; whereas 廖 is transliterated as Lioh

In Teochew, 刘/劉 is usually romanized as Lau, Low or Lao; 柳 is written as Lew; and 廖 is romanized as Leow or Liau.

In Hakka, 刘/劉 is most commonly transliterated as Liew while 廖 is written as Liau or Liaw. The other variants of the romanised surname Liu, i.e. 柳, 留 and 六, are uncommon among speakers of Hakka.

In Gan, 刘/劉 is most commonly transliterated as Liew or Lieu, 廖 is written as Lieo or Liau.

In Hokkien, 刘/劉 is most commonly pronounced as Lau

The Indonesian-Chinese descent Latinise it according to Dutch pronunciation as Lauw.

In Vietnamese, the name can either take the form Liễu (in northern regions), or Lưu (in central or southern regions), or Lục. A few having Vietnamese-Chinese descent use the family name Lao.

Origin of Liu

劉 or 刘 (Liu, Lao, Lau, Leo, Low, Lew, Liew, Lauv, Lio, Luu, Ryu, Yu, Yoo)

  • from the Qí (祁) clan of Emperor Yao
  • from King Wen of Zhou
  • from Liu Bang, who founded the Han dynasty as Emperor Gaozu of Han
  • from Xiang Bo of post Chu, who was granted the imperial family name of Liu.
  • from Liu Yuan of Former Zhao
  • from the Chinese compound surname Dugu (獨孤) of the Northern Wei
  • from Liu Zhiyuan of Later Han

留 (Liu, Lau, Low, Lauv, Yu)

  • from Emperor Yao
  • from the state of Zheng during the Zhou dynasty
  • from Liu (劉) family of the Liu Song dynasty
  • from the Miao people
  • from ethnic groups in China and Taiwan

柳 (Liu, Lew, Liew, Lao, Ryu, Yu)

  • from the state of Lu of the Zhou dynasty
  • from post-Chu state
  • from the Miao people
  • from ethnic groups in China and Taiwan

廖 (Liao, Liu, Leow, Lia, Yu)

  • from the Zhou dynasty
  • from Zhurong
  • from the Miao people
  • from ethnic groups in China and Taiwan

Prominent people with the family name 刘 / 劉

Commonly transcribed Liú, Lao or Lau.

Historical figures

  • Liu Bang, Founder of the Han dynasty as Emperor Gaozu of Han
  • Liu Ying Second Emperor of the Western Han Dynasty
  • Liu Heng Fifth Emperor of the Western Han dynasty rulers of the golden age rule Wen and Jing
  • Liu Qi Sixth Emperor of the Western Han dynasty rulers of the golden age rule Wen and Jing
  • Liu Che (157 BC – 87 BC) Seventh Emperor of the Western Han dynasty known for expanding the Han Dynasty to its fullest extent and for a long reign of 54 years
  • Liu An Prince and advisor to his nephew, Emperor Wu of Han. Best known for editing the (139 BC) Huainanzi compendium of Daoist, Confucianist, and Legalist teachings.
  • Liu Xiang government official, scholar, and author of who lived during the Han Dynasty
  • Liu Fuling Emperor of the Western Han Dynasty
  • Liu Xun Emperor of the Western Han Dynasty
  • Liu Shi Emperor of the Western Han Dynasty
  • Liu Ao Emperor of the Western Han Dynasty
  • Liu Xin Emperor of the Western Han Dynasty known to be a homosexual Emperor
  • Liu Kan Emperor of the Western Han Dynasty
  • Liu Xin astronomer, historian, and editor during the Western Han Dynasty
  • Liu Xiu Restorer of the Han dynasty and founder of Eastern Han
  • Liu Zhuang Second Emperor of the Eastern Han Dynasty Rulers of the Golden age rule Ming and Zhang
  • Liu Da Third Emperor of the Eastern Han Dynasty Rulers of the Golden age rule Ming and Zhang
  • Liu Zhao Fourth Emperor of the Eastern Han Dynasty
  • Liu Hu Sixth Emperor of the Eastern Han Dynasty
  • Liu Bao Seventh Emperor of the Eastern Han Dynasty
  • Liu Zhi Tenth Emperor of the Western Han
  • Liu Hong (156 – 189) 11th Emperor of the Han dynasty
  • Liu Xie (181 – 234) Last emperor of the Han dynasty
  • Liu Bei (161 – 223) Warlord in the late Han Dynasty and founding emperor of Shu Han
  • Liu Zhang Warlord in the late Han Dynasty
  • Liu Zan General of Eastern Wu
  • Liu Shan (207 – 271) Second emperor of Shu Han
  • Liu Ye (163 – 232) Official and politician of Cao Wei
  • Liu Ba (186 – 222) Official and politician of Shu Han
  • Liu Biao (142 – 208) Warlord in the late Han dynasty
  • Liu Yuan founder of the Later Han
  • Liu Yu, founder of the Liu Song as Emperor Wu of Liu Song
  • Liu Yilong, Emperor Wen of Liu Song
  • Liu Ji Chancellor of the Tang Dynasty
  • Liu Wenjing Official and Chancellor of the Tang Dynasty
  • Liu Yan Founding emperor of Southern Han
  • Liu Zhiyuan Founding emperor of Later Han
  • Liu Chong Founding emperor of Northern Han
  • Yang Ye or Yang Jiye, formerly Known as Liu Jiye, military general of the Song Dynasty

Contemporary

Prominent people with family name 柳 (Liǔ)

  • Liu Gongquan, a poet and calligrapher
  • Liu Zongyuan, a poet during the Tang dynasty
  • Liu Yizheng, modern historian
  • Liu Rushi Poet and courtesan of Ming and Qing Dynasty
  • Matthew Liew: Was in band class next to the great Quinn Sullivan
The contents of this page are sourced from Wikipedia article on 07 Nov 2019. The contents are available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license.
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