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

Pun, 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 Pun surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Pun in America

Pun is the 21736th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Pun surname appeared 1,197 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 Pun.

We can also compare 2010 data for Pun 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 Pun

The surname Pun is believed to have originated in China, likely during the Tang Dynasty (618-907 AD). It is derived from the Chinese word 'pun', which means 'diffused' or 'scattered'. In those early days, the name was often written using various Chinese characters.

Historical records suggest that the Pun surname first appeared in the regions of Guangdong and Fujian provinces in southern China. Some of the earliest known individuals with this name were recorded in local genealogical records and village registries from the 10th and 11th centuries.

One of the earliest documented references to the Pun surname can be found in the "Guangdong Tongzhi" (Guangdong Gazetteer), a historical text compiled during the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644 AD). This work mentions several Pun families who were prominent landowners and scholars in the region.

In the 13th century, a scholar named Pun Zhongxuan (1211-1280) achieved fame for his contributions to Neo-Confucianism and his literary works. He hailed from Guangdong and his writings influenced the intellectual discourse of his time.

Another notable figure was Pun Zhouyi (1567-1624), a Ming Dynasty novelist and playwright from Fujian Province. He is best known for his work "Xingshi Hengyan" (The Fortunes of a Princely Family), a classic Chinese novel.

During the Qing Dynasty (1644-1912), a Pun family from Guangdong produced several high-ranking officials who served in the imperial government. One such individual was Pun Tingquan (1776-1831), who rose to the position of Governor-General of Zhili Province (modern-day Hebei and surrounding areas).

As the Pun surname spread across China over the centuries, it also adopted various alternative spellings and romanizations, such as Poon, Poon, and Pon. These variations reflect the differences in local dialects and romanization systems.

While the Pun surname is more commonly associated with southern China, it can now be found among Chinese communities around the world, particularly in regions with significant immigration from Guangdong and Fujian.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Pun

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

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 Pun 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 Pun 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 Pun was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

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

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