Chinese surname · rank 40
余
余 is read as yú.
yú
Simplified 余 · Traditional 餘
surplus; remaining; I/me
Earth
Time: Spring and Autumn period; Spring and Autumn tradition, 770-476 BCE
Place: Qin state, centered in today's Shaanxi/Gansu region
Origin note
A well-known Yu surname tradition is connected with You Yu, a capable adviser who served Duke Mu of Qin in the Spring and Autumn period. Later surname tradition says descendants used Yu as a surname. The basic character meanings such as 'surplus' or 'I/me' should not be confused with this ancestor-name origin layer.
Historical figures
余靖
1000-1064 CE · Northern Song official and writer
A Song official and scholar associated with government service and literary work.
余秋雨
born 1946 CE · writer and cultural essayist
A contemporary essayist known for popular cultural and historical prose.