Chinese surname · rank 41
于
于 is read as yú.
yú
Simplified 于 · Traditional 於
in, on, at; go to
Earth
Time: Shang to Western Zhou state-name traditions; Shang tradition, c. 1600-1046 BCE
Place: Yu/Yu-fang and Yu state traditions in the Henan region, especially places associated with Sui County and Qinyang/Yutai accounts
Origin note
is best treated as a state-name surname with more than one early tradition. One source-backed line links with an earlier Yu or Yu-fang group and a Yu Hou tradition in the late Shang period. Another prominent line connects the surname with the Western Zhou Yu state: descendants of Yu Shu and the Yu state later used the state name, and some forms dropped the component from to become . Later records also mention surname changes such as Chunyu to Yu, so the page avoids reducing to a single founder.
Historical figures
于谦
1398-1457 CE · Ming official and military defender
A major Ming figure remembered for defending Beijing during the Tumu Crisis era.
于右任
1879-1964 CE · calligrapher and political figure
A modern public figure especially remembered for calligraphy and Republican-era politics.