Explore the Family Name Sou

The meaning of Sou

Chinese: variant Romanization of the surname 蘇, possibly based on its Cantonese or Teochew or Hokkien pronunciation, see Su 1.

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

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

Based on the Decennial U.S. Census data, the popularity of the surname Sou has seen a significant increase from 2000 to 2010. In 2000, Sou was ranked 30,199 in terms of popularity, but by 2010, it had risen to a rank of 25,226, representing a change of 16.47%. The count of individuals with this surname also grew during this period, from 732 in 2000 to 982 in 2010, an impressive increase of 34.15%. The proportion of people with the surname Sou per 100,000 population also rose by 22.22%, from 0.27 to 0.33.

	2000	2010	Change
Rank	#30,199	#25,226	16.47%
Count	732	982	34.15%
Proportion per 100k	0.27	0.33	22.22%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Sou

The Decennial U.S. Census data shows interesting shifts in the ethnic identity associated with the surname Sou. Among those who identify as Asian/Pacific Islander, there was a notable increase, moving from 84.56% in 2000 to 89.61% in 2010. This suggests a tighter bond between the surname and this ethnic group over time. However, among those who identify with two or more races and those who identify as White, there were substantial decreases, -69.06% and -47.32% respectively. The percentage of individuals with the surname Sou identifying as Hispanic saw an increase of 67.68%, though they represent a small portion of the total. The data for Black and American Indian and Alaskan Native identities were suppressed for privacy reasons.

	2000	2010	Change
Asian/Pacific Islander	84.56%	89.61%	5.97%
White	5.6%	2.95%	-47.32%
Hispanic	1.64%	2.75%	67.68%
Two or More Races	7.24%	2.24%	-69.06%
Black	0.96%	0%	0%
American Indian and Alaskan Native	0%	0%	0%