Situ | |
---|---|
The door of the Situ Clan Library in Chikan, Kaiping, Guangdong province | |
Chinese | 司徒 |
Hanyu Pinyin | Sītú |
Wade–Giles | Ssŭ1t‘u2 |
Yale Romanization | Sītòuh |
Jyutping | Si1tou4 |
Situ (司徒) is one of the more common surviving Chinese compound surnames. It is also spelled in Wade–Giles as Ssŭtu or in the Mathews system as Szŭtu, and romanised from Cantonese as Szeto, Seto, or Sitou, or from Taishanese as Soohoo or Soho.[1] It originates from the ancient Chinese title Situ, which can be translated as "Minister over the Masses".[2] The surname is common in Guangdong province, particularly around Kaiping.[1] Almost eighty per cent of people with this surname live in Kaiping.[citation needed]
According to data from the Sixth National Population Census of the People's Republic of China in 2010, Situ was China's fourth-most common compound surname, behind Ouyang, Shangguan, and Huangfu. The census found roughly 45,000 bearers of the surname.[3] However, it is not among the top 400 surnames overall in China.
The following table presents statistics for more common spellings of this surname in the United States, according to the United States Census. The Hanyu Pinyin spelling Situ became more common between 2000 and 2010, while Szeto, Seto, and Soohoo remained at roughly the same rankings during that time period. Other spellings such as Ssutu, Szutu, Sitou, and Seetoo occurred fewer than 100 times in census data.[4] Some of these spellings may also correspond to non-Chinese surnames; for example, Seto is also a Japanese surname (written in kanji as 瀬戸).[5]
Spelling | 2010 United States Census | 2000 United States Census | References | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Rank | Number of people | % Asian | Rank | Number of people | % Asian | ||
Situ | #11512 | 2,732 | 97.66% | #17449 | 1,490 | 94.50% | [6] |
Szeto | #12012 | 2,599 | 97.66% | #11827 | 2,426 | 93.98% | [7] |
Seto | #11229 | 2,814 | 75.52% | #11444 | 2,526 | 79.65% | [8] |
Soohoo | #18910 | 1,444 | 88.85% | #18447 | 1,382 | 89.15% | [9] |
People with this surname include: