Explore the Family Name Foo

The meaning of Foo

Chinese: 1. see Fu. 2. possibly from Cantonese form of the Chinese name 富 (meaning ‘rich’), a monosyllabic personal name, or part of a disyllabic personal name of some early Chinese immigrants in the US. Some characteristic forenames: Chinese Fook, Hong, Kam, Chee, Chen, Chi Hung, Chiang, Chin, Chow, Chuan, Chun, Hon.

Dictionary of American Family Names, 2nd edition, © Oxford University Press, 2022.

How common is the last name Foo in the United States?

Based on the Decennial U.S. Census data, the popularity of the surname 'Foo' has seen an increase between 2000 and 2010. In the year 2000, Foo was ranked 20,995 in terms of popularity, but this increased to 19,282 by 2010, representing a rise of about 8.16%. The count of people with the surname also increased from 1,167 in 2000 to 1,405 in 2010, showing a growth of 20.39%. Consequently, the proportion per 100k people increased by 11.63% over the decade.

	2000	2010	Change
Rank	#20,995	#19,282	8.16%
Count	1,167	1,405	20.39%
Proportion per 100k	0.43	0.48	11.63%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Foo

Looking at the ethnic identity associated with the surname 'Foo', the Decennial U.S. Census data reveals that the majority of those bearing this name identify as Asian or Pacific Islander. This group's representation decreased slightly from 80.29% in 2000 to 79.29% in 2010. Meanwhile, the percentage of individuals identifying as two or more races dropped by 27.72%. White individuals bearing the 'Foo' surname saw a rise of 27.27%, while those identifying as Hispanic grew by a significant 118.02%. Despite these shifts, the percentage of Black individuals and American Indian and Alaskan Natives remained relatively stable throughout the decade.

	2000	2010	Change
Asian/Pacific Islander	80.29%	79.29%	-1.25%
White	6.6%	8.4%	27.27%
Two or More Races	9.85%	7.12%	-27.72%
Black	2.14%	2.78%	29.91%
Hispanic	1.11%	2.42%	118.02%
American Indian and Alaskan Native	0%	0%	0%