Find out how popular the last name Liew is in the United States and learn more about the meaning, history, and race and ethnic origin of people in America who are named Liew.

Liew, like all of the last names we have data for, is identified by the U.S. Census Bureau as a surname which has more than 100 occurrences in the United States in the Decennial Census survey. The most recent statistics we have for the Liew surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Liew in America

Liew is the 24572nd most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Liew surname appeared 1,017 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 0 people would have the surname Liew.

We can also compare 2010 data for Liew to data from the previous census in 2000. The table below contains all of the statistics for both years in a side-by-side comparison.

The history of the last name Liew

The surname LIEW originates from China, with its roots dating back to the Tang Dynasty (618-907 AD). It is a romanized spelling of the Chinese characters 刘, which can be traced back to the ancient state of Chu during the Spring and Autumn period (770-476 BC).

The name LIEW is believed to have originated in the region of Henan Province, which was once a part of the ancient state of Chu. The characters 刘 were initially used as a place name, referring to a location known as Liu River or Liu County.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the surname LIEW can be found in the Shiji, a historical text written by Sima Qian in the 1st century BC. The book mentions Liu Bang, the founder of the Han Dynasty, who was born in 256 BC with the family name Liu.

During the Tang Dynasty, the surname LIEW gained prominence, with several notable figures bearing the name. Liu Yuxi (772-842 AD), a renowned poet and scholar, was one of the most celebrated individuals with this surname during this period.

Another notable figure was Liu Xie (465-522 AD), a literary critic and writer who lived during the Southern and Northern Dynasties. His influential work, "The Literary Mind and the Carving of Dragons," is considered a classic in Chinese literary theory.

In the 13th century, the Mongol ruler Kublai Khan appointed Liu Bingzhong (1216-1274) as the first Minister of Finance in the Yuan Dynasty. Liu Bingzhong played a crucial role in establishing the paper currency system in China.

During the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), Liu Ji (1311-1375) was a prominent Confucian scholar and philosopher. He is best known for his work "The Reflection of Things from the Beginning to the End," which explored the principles of Confucianism and Taoism.

In more recent history, Liu E (1857-1909), also known as Liu Ngog-lam, was a Chinese revolutionary and the first president of the Tung Meng Hui, a precursor to the Kuomintang political party.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Liew

We also have some data on the ancestry of people with the surname Liew.

The below race categories are the modified race categories used in the Census Bureau's population estimates program. All people were categorized into six mutually exclusive racial and Hispanic origin groups:

1. White only
2. Black only
3. American Indian and Alaskan Native only
4. Asian and Pacific Islander only
5. Hispanic
6. Two or More Races

For the most recent 2010 census data, the race/ethnic origin breakdown for Liew was:

Note: Any fields showing (S) means the data was suppressed for privacy so that the data does not in any way identify any specific individuals.

Since we have data from the previous census in 2000, we can also compare the values to see how the popularity of Liew has changed in the 10 years between the two census surveys.

Data source

The last name data and ethnic breakdown of last names is sourced directly from the Decennial Census survey, conducted every 10 years by the United States Census Bureau.

The history and meaning of the name Liew was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

If you have a correction or suggestion to improve the history of Liew, please contact us.

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