Hiu
given name · Latin script
Used for both men and women· registers list it under both sexes; no split published
(measured from records)Officially recorded in 15 countries · latest register: Census Bureau, 2020
/aju/(machine-generated) pronunciation, model-generated
Hiu is a given name used for both men and women, written in the Latin script, with more bearers in China than in any other country. In Hong Kong it is the 60th most common given name. Recorded meaning: From Malay hiu (Standard yu), from Proto-Malayic *hiu, from Proto-Malayo-Chamic *hiu, from Proto-Malayo-Sumbawan *hiu, Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *qihu, from Proto-Austronesian *qiSu.
- HKHong Kong≈1 in 1.1K(inferred from the name graph)
- TWTaiwan≈1 in 151K
- USUnited States1 in 1.1M
carrying the name, as counted by its national register where one exists and as Mondonomo estimates it elsewhere (marked ≈ and "est." on hover). One hue, darker where it is more common; hover a country for its figure.
- China (inferred from the name graph)
- Record sources
- 137 (measured from records)
- ≈1 in 1.1K (inferred from the name graph)
≈45,000 people, est.
corpus datasets behind its best-documented spelling
strongest: highest-authority source
Hong Kong, est.
measured from records inferred from the name graph
Meaning & origin
(measured from records)- MalayhiuStandard yu(measured from records)
- Proto-Malayic*hiu(measured from records)
- Proto-Malayo-Chamic*hiu(measured from records)
- Proto-Malayo-Sumbawan*hiu(measured from records)
- Proto-Austronesian*qiSu(measured from records)
From Malay hiu (Standard yu), from Proto-Malayic *hiu, from Proto-Malayo-Chamic *hiu, from Proto-Malayo-Sumbawan *hiu, Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *qihu, from Proto-Austronesian *qiSu.
Cited for this meaning 1
Attested across 2 languages in the etymology graph.
Where in the world
(measured from records)Hiu counted together with the spellings and other-language forms grouped with it. Where a register counted another spelling, the row names it.
Sorted by bearers: national registers' counts, and Mondonomo's estimates (≈, est.) where no register counts.
| Country | Most common spelling | Sources | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CN China | — | ≈45,000 est. | ≈1 in 31K | — | Hiu | 48 |
| HK Hong Kong | #60 | ≈6,500 est. | ≈1 in 1.1K | — | Hiu | 93 |
| MY Malaysia | — | ≈570 est. | ≈1 in 58K | — | Hiu | 14 |
| AU Australia | — | ≈410 est. | ≈1 in 62K | 1 | — | 1 |
| GB United Kingdom | — | ≈390 est. | ≈1 in 168K | listed | Hiu | 57 |
| US United States | — | 293 | 1 in 1.1M | 237 | Hiu | 137 |
| TW Taiwan | — | ≈160 est. | ≈1 in 151K | — | Hiu | 30 |
Exact figures are national registers' own counts, while figures marked ≈ and est. are Mondonomo’s estimates, counted from our sources and calibrated against those registers; hover one for how far to trust it in that country. A dash means neither exists.
Registers cited: Census Bureau — First Name Frequency 2020 by sex; Census Bureau — Surname Frequency 2020; SA BDM — Popular baby names South Australia (1944–present). Figures without a register are Mondonomo estimates; see Methodology.
Country figures for a list of names, at full precision, are available under licence rather than by scraping this table (how that works).
Other recorded senses
(measured from records)Hiu is also recorded in 6 other lexicons, as a different name or as an ordinary word. These are senses of the spelling, not of the name above.
In Akan, interj. an expression of fear or astonishment. Gr. § 145
as a wordDictionary of the Asante and Fante Language called Tshi (Chwee, Twi)
In Sundanese, shark
as a wordkaikki.org Wiktionary extract (IPA + transliterations)
In zlm, shark; dogfish; generic for sharks, dogfish, hammerhead sharks, sawfish and beaked rays
as a wordAustronesian Comparative Dictionary (ACD), CLDF v2.0
In Hawaiian, to throw or fling violently, haul energetically with ropes
as a wordkaikki.org Wiktionary extract (IPA + transliterations)
In Indonesian, shark (scaleless cartilaginous fish)
as a wordkaikki.org Wiktionary extract (IPA + transliterations)
In Sundanese, generic name for all sharklike fish
as a wordAustronesian Comparative Dictionary (ACD), CLDF v2.0
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.
Notable people with this name
(measured from records)- Lin Xiaob. 1920CNnot in their usual nameChinese politician
- Jiang Xiaoyuanb. 1955CNnot in their usual nameChinese astronomy historian
- Yang Xiaob. 1964CNnot in their usual nameChinese rower
- Wang Xiaob. 1968CNnot in their usual nameChinese politician
- Zhang Xiaolongb. 1975CNnot in their usual nameChinese actor
- Li Xiaolub. 1982CNnot in their usual nameChinese actress
- Chen Xiaob. 1987CNnot in their usual nameChinese television and film actor
- Chen Xiaob. 1989CNnot in their usual nameChinese association football player
- Sun Xiaob. 1992CNnot in their usual nameChinese field hockey player (1992-)
- Cui Xiaotongb. 1994CNnot in their usual nameChinese rower
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).
How to address them
(machine-generated)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.
Evidence
(measured from records)25 registers and reference works attest this spelling, across 15 countries.
| Country | Register | Year | Count | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| US United States | Census Bureau — Surname Frequency 2020 | 2020 | 237 | #85,054 |
| US United States | Census Bureau — Surname Frequency 2010 | 2010 | 226 | #83,226 |
| US United States | Census Bureau — Surname Frequency 2000 | 2000 | 170 | #98,770 |
| US United States | wru Name Dictionary — US surnames, Census 2010 subset (Khanna et al.) | — | — | — |
Reference works 2
- Nederlandse FamilienamenBank (Dutch surname bank; ex-Meertens Instituut, now CBG)2007
- Wikidata name items (native-script + romanized given/family names)
These works list the name; their figures are licensed and are not reproduced here.
Register rows as of the 2026-10-09 data build.
Frequently asked questions
- What does the name Hiu mean, and where does it come from?
- From Malay hiu (Standard yu), from Proto-Malayic *hiu, from Proto-Malayo-Chamic *hiu, from Proto-Malayo-Sumbawan *hiu, Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *qihu, from Proto-Austronesian *qiSu. Recorded by Wiktionary.
- How do you pronounce Hiu?
- A machine transcription gives /aju/ (IPA) for Chinese.
- Is Hiu a male or female name?
- Hiu is used for both men and women. National registers that list it by sex count it under both: United States (Census Bureau, 2020). We don't publish a percentage split.
- In which country does Hiu have the most bearers?
- Mondonomo estimates about 45 thousand people named Hiu in China, more than in any other country we hold, where it is most often spelled hiu.
- How common is the name Hiu?
- In the United States, the national register counted 293 people named Hiu in 2020, about 1 in 1.1 million residents.
- How common is Hiu compared with other names?
- In Hong Kong, Hiu is the 60th most common given name of 23,276 given names recorded there.
What do you want to know about Hiu?
Nobody replies to these one by one, but what readers ask decides what these pages answer next.
Query this name via API
curl -H "X-API-Key: YOUR_KEY" https://api.mondonomo.ai/api/v1/name-graph/hiuThe payload this page is built from: spellings and scripts, countries and languages, related names, and the registers that attest the form. It takes a free API key (1,000 requests a day), which returns what this page shows everyone; the full country table, every register citation and the year-by-year series come with a licensed key, as does bulk access.
About this data
measured from records inferred from the name graph machine-generated
These figures come from the data snapshot of and will change as it is rebuilt.
Statistics are aggregated from the Mondonomo name corpus; related names and etymology are inferred from the name graph; pronunciation and any machine-marked transliterations are model-generated. Read how the numbers are made, including their known failure modes, and where the data comes from.
Reference works we consult — surname dictionaries, official name registers, Wikidata and Wiktionary — are named directly, beside the claims they support. The per-country source counts also include datasets of person records: we publish how many there are and their authority tier, but not their names.
Cite this page Mondonomo, “Hiu” — the 60th most common given name in Hong Kong. Data snapshot 2026-10-13.