Tsui last name popularity, history, and meaning

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

Meaning of Tsui

A Chinese surname meaning "to follow," "chase," or "pursue," likely referring to a soldier or hunter.

Tsui, 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 Tsui surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Tsui in America

Tsui is the 10180th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Tsui surname appeared 3,168 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 1 people would have the surname Tsui.

We can also compare 2010 data for Tsui 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 10180 10748 -5.43%
Count 3,168 2,725 15.03%
Proportion per 100k 1.07 1.01 5.77%

The history of the last name Tsui

The surname Tsui is of Chinese origin and can be traced back to the Tang Dynasty (618-907 AD) in China. It is believed to have originated from the Cantonese pronunciation of the Chinese characters 徐 or 崔, which were common family names in southern China.

Historically, the name Tsui was prevalent in the Guangdong and Fujian provinces of China, as well as in Hong Kong. Some records indicate that the name may have been derived from the ancient Chinese word "cui," which referred to a type of bamboo plant.

In ancient Chinese texts, there are mentions of individuals with the surname Tsui serving as government officials or scholars during various dynasties. For example, Tsui Ying (834-916 AD) was a prominent scholar and poet during the Tang Dynasty.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Tsui can be found in the "Pu'er Prefecture Gazetteer," a historical document from the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644 AD), which lists several villages and families with this surname in the Pu'er region of Yunnan Province.

Over the centuries, the name Tsui has been associated with several notable individuals. One example is Tsui Hark (born 1950), a renowned Hong Kong film director and producer known for his work in the kung fu and action genres.

Another notable figure is Tsui Tsin-tong (1895-1966), a prominent Hong Kong businessman and philanthropist who founded the Tsui Tsin-tong Charitable Foundation, which supported education and social welfare initiatives.

In the literary world, Tsui Tze-ki (1924-2013) was a respected Hong Kong novelist and essayist, known for his works exploring the cultural identity of Hong Kong.

Tsui Lap-chee (1915-1991) was a renowned architect who played a significant role in shaping the modern skyline of Hong Kong, designing iconic buildings such as the Hong Kong Cultural Centre.

Tsui Sing-luen (1949-2019) was a respected Hong Kong academic and linguist who made significant contributions to the study of Cantonese language and culture.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Tsui

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

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 Tsui was:

Race/Ethnicity Percentage Total Occurrences
Non-Hispanic White Only 1.86% 59
Non-Hispanic Black Only (S)% (S)
Non-Hispanic Asian and Pacific Islander Only 94.48% 2,993
Non-Hispanic American Indian and Alaskan Native (S)% (S)
Non-Hispanic of Two or More Races 2.62% 83
Hispanic Origin 0.76% 24

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

2010 2000 Change (%)
White 1.86% 2.06% -10.20%
Black (S)% (S)% (S)%
Asian and Pacific Islander 94.48% 94.94% -0.49%
American Indian and Alaskan Native (S)% (S)% (S)%
Two or More Races 2.62% 2.28% 13.88%
Hispanic 0.76% 0.33% 78.90%

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

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

Reference this page

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If you found the data or information on this page useful in your research, please use the tool below to properly cite or reference Name Census as the source. We appreciate your support!

"Tsui last name popularity, history, and meaning". NameCensus.com. Accessed on December 4, 2024. http://namecensus.com/last-names/tsui-surname-popularity/.

"Tsui last name popularity, history, and meaning". NameCensus.com, http://namecensus.com/last-names/tsui-surname-popularity/. Accessed 4 December, 2024

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

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