Chinese surname · rank 9
吴
吴 is read as wú.
wú
Simplified 吴 · Traditional 吳
ancient Wu state name
Earth
Time: Late Shang to Western Zhou foundation tradition; Spring and Autumn Wu state layer; Shang tradition, c. 1600-1046 BCE
Place: Ancient Wu state in the lower Yangtze region, especially today's Jiangsu area
Origin note
The main Wu tradition links the surname with the ancient state of Wu and the figures Taibo and Zhongyong. Taibo and Zhongyong are remembered as Zhou royal-line figures who moved south; later descendants of the Wu state used Wu as a surname after the state-name tradition formed.
Historical figures
吴太伯
legendary late Shang / early Zhou tradition · founder figure of the Wu tradition
A Zhou royal-line figure remembered in Wu surname tradition as a founding ancestor of the Wu state line.
伍子胥
died 484 BCE · Spring and Autumn statesman
A major figure in Wu-state history. His surname is written 伍, not 吴, so he should be treated as Wu-state cultural context rather than a Wu-surname bearer.