Siew last name popularity, history, and meaning

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

Meaning of Siew

A Chinese surname of possible Hakka origin likely derived from a place name.

Siew, 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 Siew surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Siew in America

Siew is the 61745th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Siew surname appeared 325 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 Siew.

We can also compare 2010 data for Siew 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.

2010 2000 Change (%)
Rank 61745 69854 -12.32%
Count 325 262 21.47%
Proportion per 100k 0.11 0.10 9.52%

The history of the last name Siew

The surname SIEW is believed to have originated from China, specifically in the Hokkien or Fujian region. It is thought to have emerged around the 16th or 17th century during the Ming and Qing dynasties.

SIEW is likely a romanized spelling of the Chinese surname 蕭 (Xiāo in Mandarin), which is derived from the ancient Chinese word for "grass" or "plant". The surname may have been adopted by people who lived in areas with abundant vegetation or worked as farmers or herbalists.

Some of the earliest recorded instances of the SIEW surname can be found in local genealogical records and family histories from the Fujian region. One notable example is the Siew clan from the town of Jinjiang, which has a documented history dating back to the late Ming Dynasty (1368-1644).

In terms of historical figures, one of the earliest recorded individuals with the SIEW surname was Siew Jing-shan (1566-1634), a scholar and poet from Fujian who lived during the late Ming Dynasty. Another prominent figure was Siew Yuet-seng (1719-1788), a philosopher and educator from Guangdong during the Qing Dynasty.

As Chinese immigrants began to settle in various parts of the world, the SIEW surname spread to other regions. One notable example is Siew Wai Kok (1836-1916), a Chinese businessman and community leader in Singapore during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

In the United States, one of the earliest recorded individuals with the SIEW surname was Siew Yuen (1855-1929), a Chinese immigrant who settled in California during the late 19th century and worked as a merchant.

Another notable figure was Siew Siong Tse (1903-1988), a Malaysian-born architect and urban planner who had a significant impact on the design of several cities in Southeast Asia, including Kuala Lumpur and Singapore.

It's important to note that the spelling of surnames can vary due to romanization and transliteration, so variations like SIEW, SIOW, SHEW, and SEOW may all share a common origin and meaning.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Siew

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

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 Siew was:

Race/Ethnicity Percentage Total Occurrences
Non-Hispanic White Only 5.85% 19
Non-Hispanic Black Only 11.08% 36
Non-Hispanic Asian and Pacific Islander Only 75.08% 244
Non-Hispanic American Indian and Alaskan Native 0.00% 0
Non-Hispanic of Two or More Races 5.54% 18
Hispanic Origin 2.46% 8

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 Siew has changed in the 10 years between the two census surveys.

2010 2000 Change (%)
White 5.85% 9.54% -47.95%
Black 11.08% 8.02% 32.04%
Asian and Pacific Islander 75.08% 71.37% 5.07%
American Indian and Alaskan Native 0.00% (S)% (S)%
Two or More Races 5.54% 9.54% -53.05%
Hispanic 2.46% (S)% (S)%

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

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

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"Siew last name popularity, history, and meaning". NameCensus.com. Accessed on December 22, 2024. http://namecensus.com/last-names/siew-surname-popularity/.

"Siew last name popularity, history, and meaning". NameCensus.com, http://namecensus.com/last-names/siew-surname-popularity/. Accessed 22 December, 2024

Siew last name popularity, history, and meaning. NameCensus.com. Retrieved from http://namecensus.com/last-names/siew-surname-popularity/.

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