Zhōu is the Hanyu Pinyin transliteration of the Chinese family name 周, which now ranks the 9th most common surname in Mainland China. It has been one of the ten most common surnames in China since the Yuan Dynasty. In places which use the Wade-Giles romanization such as Taiwan, Zhou is usually spelled as "Chou", and it may also be spelled "Chau", "Jhou", "Joe", "Chiau", "Chu" or "Chow". Zhōu can also stand for another, rare Chinese family name, 洲.
Prominent individuals with the surname Zhou
- Alphabetized by surname, then by given name.
- Endy Chow, singer
- Jay Chou, singer
- Niki Chow, actress
- Norm Chow, American football coach
- Simon Chau Sui-Cheong, Hong Kong social and environmental activist
- Stephen Chow, actor & director
- Vivian Chow, singer
- Wakin Chau (Emil Chau), singer
- Wei-Liang Chow, mathematician
- Zhou Enlai, People's Republic of China politician
- Zhou Long, composer
- Zhou Mi, a Chinese female badminton player
- Zhou Shuren, writer using the pseudonym Lu Xun
- Ju Sigyeong, Korean linguistist
- Zhou Tong (archer), famous archer and teacher of Song Dynasty General Yue Fei
- Zhou Tong (Water Margin), fictional bandit from the Water Margin novel
- Zhou Xiaochuan, economist
- Zhou Xuan (1918-1957), actress
- Zhou Xun, actress
- Wen Tsing Chow, missile guidance scientist
- Zhou Yafu, a Han dynasty general
- Zhou Yu, a great general of the Kingdom of Wu
- Chow Yun-Fat, actor
- Zhou Zuoren, writer, brother of Lu Xun
