2000
#29,325
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 760
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.28
Rare Last name
Pu
A surname indicating the person hailed from a town or place named Pu.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 2,116 Americans carry the last name Pu. That puts it at #15,318 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.62 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 161,982 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Pu surname. You will find the Census Bureau frequency data, a multi-census history view, an ancestry and ethnicity breakdown based on self-reported demographics, the name's meaning and origin where available, and answers to the most common questions people ask about this surname.
Bearers in the US
2.1K
1 in 161,982
Census rank
#15,318
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.6
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
1.8K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 1,845 bearers of the surname Pu in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.62 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 15318th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Pu, the largest self-reported group is Asian/Pacific Islander at 79.9%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (14.5%) and White (3.4%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Pu
The surname Pu originated in China and is believed to have derived from the word "pu," which means "ordinary" or "common" in various Chinese dialects. The name can be traced back to the Tang Dynasty (618-907 AD), when it was first recorded in historical documents.
One of the earliest known references to the name Pu can be found in the ancient Chinese text "Shiji" (Records of the Grand Historian), written by Sima Qian in the 1st century BC. The text mentions several individuals with the surname Pu, indicating its widespread usage during that time.
During the Song Dynasty (960-1279 AD), the Pu family gained prominence and produced several notable scholars and officials. One such figure was Pu Shougeng (1036-1101), a renowned Confucian scholar and philosopher who made significant contributions to Neo-Confucianism.
In the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644 AD), the Pu surname was particularly prevalent in the southern regions of China, such as Guangdong and Fujian provinces. The town of Pujiang in Zhejiang province is believed to have been named after a prominent Pu family that resided there.
During the Qing Dynasty (1644-1912 AD), the Pu family continued to play an important role in Chinese society. Pu Songlin (1592-1672) was a famous playwright and literary critic who wrote several influential works on Chinese drama and poetry.
Another notable figure with the surname Pu was Pu Xuezhi (1892-1966), a prominent educator and politician who served as the Minister of Education in the Republic of China government during the 1940s.
Other historical figures with the Pu surname include Pu Linzhang (1819-1886), a Qing Dynasty scholar and reformist who advocated for modernization and westernization in China, and Pu Renxuan (1926-2005), a renowned Chinese linguist and scholar of ancient Chinese inscriptions.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Pu
Among Census respondents with the surname Pu, the largest self-reported group is Asian/Pacific Islander at 79.9%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (14.5%) and White (3.4%).
The bar chart below shows how Pu bearers described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given surname, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown for every Census year so the breakdown stays comparable over time. When the source file also includes raw headcounts, Name Census shows those alongside the percentages in the legend.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A person's surname does not determine their race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the Pu surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander79.9% · 1,474
- Hispanic or Latino14.5% · 267
- White3.4% · 62
- Two or more races1.5% · 28
- Black or African American0.8% · 14
Timeline
Historical Census data for Pu
Pu appears in 3 published Census surname files: 2000, 2010, 2020. The cards below show how the name's rank and bearer count changed across each release.
2010
#20,449
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 1,299
+539 bearers (+70.9%)
Per 100,000 0.44
Rank movement Up 8,876 places
2020
#15,318
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 1,845
+546 bearers (+42.0%)
Per 100,000 0.62
Rank movement Up 5,131 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #29,325 | 760 | 0.28 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #20,449 | 1,299 | 0.44 | +539 bearers (+70.9%) | Up 8,876 places |
| 2020 | #15,318 | 1,845 | 0.62 | +546 bearers (+42.0%) | Up 5,131 places |
For 2020, the Census Bureau published race and Hispanic-origin columns as counts rather than percentages. Name Census converts those counts back into shares so the ancestry section stays comparable with the older surname files.
Year on year
2010 vs 2020 Census
How has the Pu surname changed between Census years? The chart shows bearer count side by side, and the table compares rank, count, and frequency.
Census year comparison
20102020
| Metric | 2010 | 2020 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | #20,449 | #15,318 | 25.1% |
| Count | 1,299 | 1,845 | 42.0% |
| Per 100K | 0.44 | 0.62 | 40.3% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Pu bearers went from 1,299 to 1,845 (+42.0% change). The surname moved up 5,131 positions in the national ranking, going from #20,449 to #15,318.
FAQ
Pu surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Pu?
Name Census estimates that about 2,116 living Americans carry the surname Pu. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 161,982 residents.
How common is Pu?
Pu ranks #15,318 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.62 per 100,000 residents, which is about 1 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 1,845 people with the surname Pu. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (2,116), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.62 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.62 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 1 of them to have the surname Pu.
Has Pu become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Pu went from 1,299 recorded bearers to 1,845. That is an increase of 546 (+42.0%). In the national ranking it rose from #20,449 to #15,318.
What does the Census say about the background of Pu?
Among Census respondents with the surname Pu, the largest self-reported group is Asian/Pacific Islander at 79.9%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (14.5%) and White (3.4%). These figures come from the 2020 Census Bureau surname tables, based on how respondents described their own race and ethnicity.
Which group reports this surname most often?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest self-reported group for the surname Pu in the 2020 Census, accounting for 79.9% (1,474 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Pu appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are Asian/Pacific Islander (79.9%), Hispanic (14.5%), White (3.4%). For 2020, the source file also published raw headcounts for each group, which is why this page can show both percentages and counts in the ancestry section.
Is this page using the latest Census data?
Yes. This page is using the latest surname file currently loaded on Name Census, which is 2020. The historical section above also keeps any older Census surname entries we have for Pu (2000, 2010, 2020).
Does the Census include every surname?
No. The Census Bureau only publishes surnames that appeared at least 100 times in a given decennial Census. That means very rare surnames are excluded entirely, and a surname can appear in one Census release but disappear from a later one if it falls below the reporting threshold.
Why don't the ancestry percentages always add up to exactly 100%?
There are two main reasons: rounding and suppression. The Census Bureau rounds published values, and it may suppress very small cells to protect privacy. For 2020, the Bureau also published raw group counts rather than direct percentages, so Name Census converts those counts back into shares for comparability across census years.
What does Pu mean?
A surname indicating the person hailed from a town or place named Pu. The fuller origin note on this page goes into more detail.
Where does the surname data come from?
All surname statistics on Name Census are drawn from the US Census Bureau's decennial surname frequency tables. These files list every surname that appeared 100 or more times in the 2020 Census, along with a count, a per-100,000 rate, and a self-reported demographic breakdown. You can read the full explanation on our methodology page.
How does Name Census estimate living bearers?
For surnames, Name Census does not age cohorts the way it does for first names. Instead, it takes the Census Bureau's published frequency for Pu (0.62 per 100,000) and applies that rate to the current U.S. resident population to estimate how many living Americans have the surname today.
How many people are called Pu?
For a quick modern take, check how many Americans have the surname Pu on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.