Wu is the Pinyin transliteration of the Chinese surname 吳 (Traditional Chinese), 吴 (Simplified Chinese), which is the tenth most common surname in Mainland China. Several other, less common Chinese surnames are also translated into English as "Wu": 武, 武, 仵, 烏, and 鄔. Wu (or Woo or Wou) is also the Cantonese transliteration of the different Chinese surname 胡 (see Hu), used in Hong Kong, and by overseas Chinese of Cantonese speaking areas of Guangdong, or Hong Kong origin. In Vietnamese, it is Hồ. The name is also one of the most common surnames in Korea. It is spelled 오 in Hangul and romanized O by the three major romanization systems, but more commonly spelled Oh in South Korea. Also in Vietnam, Ngô.
Famous people named Wu
(in alphabetical order)
- 吳作棟 (吴作栋) - Goh Chok Tong, fomer Prime Minister of the Republic of Singapore, current Senior Minister of Singapore and the chairman of the central bank of Singapore, the Monetary Authority of Singapore
- 吳宇森 (吴宇森) - Woo, John, film director
- 吳光正 (吴光正) - Woo Kwong Ching, Peter, Hong Kong entrepreneur, billionaire and politician
- 吳邦國 (吴邦国) - Wu Bangguo, Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress of the PRC
- 吳彥祖 (吴彦祖) - Wu, Daniel, Chinese actor
- 吳振偉 (吴振伟) - Wu, David, congressman from the 1st district of Oregon
- 吳 (吴) - Wu, Frank, science-fiction artist
- 吳嘉文 (吴嘉文) - Wu Jia Wen, Notable Table Tennis Captain from Australia
- 吳健雄 (吴健雄) - Wu Jianxiong, Chinese scientist
- 吳鑑泉 (吴鉴泉) - Wu Jianquan (1870 – 1942), Taijiquan teacher
- 吳景滔 (吴景滔) - Wu, Jingtao, Ian, Chinese child actor from Hong Kong, Won Best Supporting Actor at the Taipei Golden Horse Awards in 2006
- 吳蠻 (吴蛮) - Wu Man, pipa and ruan player
- 武松 - Wu Song, famous hero from the Chinese classic, Outlaws of the Marsh.
- 吳天明 (吴天明) - Wu Tianming Chinese film director
- 伍家球 - Wu, William F., science-fiction author
- 吳儀 (吴仪) - Wu Yi, Vice-premier of the People's Republic of China
- 伍子胥 - Wu Zixu, great general in the Spring and Autumn period of Chinese history
