Tu

Spellings marked ● are how people bearing the name write it in our records, and ○ marks a model's transliteration; click a spelling to open its page.

Attested across 14 languages in the etymology graph.

Tu is one spelling over 2 language communities, and the dictionaries record it differently in 2 of them. Each row is what a source recorded for that language, beside the share of this name’s records the language holds. No single row is the name’s meaning.

• Vietnamese74%

  to isolate oneself from other people to follow rules in a philosophy or religion

  as a word·kaikki.org Wiktionary extract (IPA + transliterations)

  Han-Viet name element; from the naming poem for Thường Tín quận vương, Gia Long’s 11th son.

  as a name·Tên Họ Người Việt Nam

• English12%

  Pronunciation spelling of to, representing African-American Vernacular English.

  as a word·kaikki.org Wiktionary extract (IPA + transliterations)

The share is ours — how much of this name’s records each language holds. The sense beside it is the source’s, quoted and credited, including where it names a gender. We do not publish a gender of our own per language: our records carry one figure for the spelling as a whole.

Tu is also recorded as 7 other names, grouped separately because the records behind them do not connect to the one described above.

• English given name58 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, Australia, United Kingdom, Germany

  Languages: English, German, Dutch

  Also written Tue, Tú, Tü, Tuee, Tử

• a separate given name38 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, United Kingdom, Malaysia, China

  Also written Tú, Tử, Tứ, Ťù, Từ

• a separate name16 spellings in the group

  Also written Tụ, Tú, Từ, Țu, Tù

• Spanish given name27 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, El Salvador, Dominican Republic, Chile

  Languages: Spanish, Portuguese

  Also written Tú, Tù, Từ, Tü, Tứ

• Korean given name10 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in South Korea, United States, Malaysia, North Korea

  Also written 투, Tú, Tự, Tư, Tử

• French given name20 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in France, United States, Canada, Belgium

  Also written Tú, Tû, Tü, Tù, Từ

• Hindi given name24 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in India, United States, Pakistan, Malaysia

  Languages: Hindi, Urdu

  Also written Từ, Tù, Tú, Tū, Tü

63 further groups record this spelling and are not listed here.

Grouping is the name graph's, not a register's: two spellings join a group when the evidence links them, so a group is a claim about the records rather than about the people.

Tu is also recorded in 3 other lexicons, as a different name or as an ordinary word. These are senses of the spelling, not of the name above.

• In cdo, gouge, to cut or scoop out to come, to arrive, to reach (3! is also used for colloquial). has he yet come or not? to come early, (ciéu-dék-li). to come late, (cé-ma-li). come and see, (a-cd-dék-H). to come and yo, (udng-lai). the common Chinese pear, Pyrus

  as a word·Dictionary of the Foochow Dialect

• In Akan, adv. completely dark; ade saa so tu, whilst this was going on, it grew full night (it continued or was deferred to the dark of night). attf , clasp, embrace; ye atQ, to embrace; woyeat., they embraee each other; meye no at., / e^nbrace him; cf, bam, fam

  as a word·Dictionary of the Asante and Fante Language called Tshi (Chwee, Twi)

• In cdo, ginger ― too poor to Iniy pavory food ； tok、 sioh^ chiAh, to light one, as u mutch or lamp ； sek"ok、 a soldei itig-irou. jrt Any thing that juts *1 above the surface, as a Tieli a "tenon ； convex, proHi- berant ； used for the coll. (《X q. V.

  as a word·An Alphabetic Dictionary of the Chinese Language in the Foochow Dialect

Ordered by how much of this spelling's record each language holds, so a sense from a language the name is barely used in sits last rather than first.

• Ouyang Xiub. 1007CNnot in their usual nameChinese poet, historian and statesman (1007–1072)
• Du Yumingb. 1904CNnot in their usual nameChinese lieutenant general (1904–1981)
• Ma Shitub. 1915CNnot in their usual nameChinese writer and politician

The ten people covered by the most Wikipedia language editions — a proxy for cross-cultural notability, which favours historical and Western figures over equally prominent contemporary ones — shown by birth year. Source: Wikidata (CC0).

A formal English salutation is built on the surname, so it needs a full name — on its own, a first name only supports the informal form.

53 registers and reference works attest this spelling, across 28 countries.

Register rows as of the 2026-10-09 data build.

What does the name Tu mean, and where does it come from?

to isolate oneself from other people to follow rules in a philosophy or religion Recorded by kaikki.org Wiktionary extract (IPA + transliterations).

Is Tu a male or female name?

Tu is used for both men and women. National registers that list it by sex count it under both: United States (Census Bureau, 2020), Finland (DVV) and Norway (SSB). We don't publish a percentage split.

Which countries have the most people named Tu?

Mondonomo estimates about 291 thousand people named Tu in Vietnam, more than in any other country we hold, where it is most often spelled tu. After it come United States, Indonesia, India and Ecuador; the country table on this page ranks them.

How common is the name Tu?

In the United States, the national register counted 6,480 people named Tu in 2020, about 1 in 51 thousand residents.

How common is Tu compared with other names?

In Vietnam, Tu is the 37th most common given name of 73,918 given names recorded there.