Chew is a Chinese, English or Korean surname.
| Language(s) | Chinese (Cantonese, Southern Min, Mandarin), Korean |
|---|---|
| Other names | |
| Variant form(s) | |
Origins edit
As an English surname, Chew has three separate origins:
- A toponymic surname referring to a place in Billington, Lancashire. It was originally spelled Cho, from Middle English cho, which is possibly a descendant of Old English cēo meaning "fish gill".[1][2]
- A toponymic surname referring to Chew Magna or Chew Stoke in Somerset.[3]
- A nickname from Old English cio, which refers to smaller chattering species of crow, in particular the red-billed chough.[4]
As a Chinese surname, Chew is a spelling of the pronunciation in different varieties of Chinese of a number of distinct surnames including the below ones, listed by their pronunciation in Mandarin Chinese:[5]
- Zhōu (Chinese: 周), spelled Chew based on its pronunciation in the Teochew dialect of Southern Min (Peng'im: ziu¹; IPA: /ʦiu³/).[6]
- Zhào (traditional Chinese: 趙; simplified Chinese: 赵), spelled Chew based on its pronunciation in Cantonese (Jyutping: ziu6; Cantonese Yale: jiuh; IPA: /t͡siːu̯²²/)[7]
- Qiū (Chinese: 丘, 秋, 邱) or Qiú (Chinese: 裘, 仇), from a variant of the Mandarin Wade–Giles spelling Ch'iu[8]
As a Korean surname, Chew might be an alternative spelling of the surnames spelled Ju (Korean: 주; Hanja: 朱, 周) or Chu (Korean: 추; Hanja: 秋, 鄒) in the Revised Romanization of Korean.[9][10]
Statistics edit
According to statistics cited by Patrick Hanks, there were 2,033 people on the island of Great Britain and 48 on the island of Ireland with the surname Chew as of 2011. In 1881 there had been 1,490 people with the surname in Great Britain, mainly in Lancashire, Yorkshire, Gloucestershire, and Bedfordshire.[2]
The 2010 United States Census found 8,905 people with the surname Chew, making it the 3,988th-most-common name in the country. This represented an decrease in relative frequency, but an increase in absolute numbers, from 8,516 (3,831st-most-common) in the 2000 Census. In both censuses, about four-tenths of the bearers of the surname identified as Asian, four-tenths as White, and 15% as Black.[11] It was the 310th-most-common surname among respondents to the 2000 Census who identified as Asian.[12]
People edit
Notable people with the surname include:
Academia edit
- Chew Chin Hin (fl. 1940s–present), Singaporean physician
- Geoffrey Chew (musicologist) (fl. 1960s–present), British musicologist
- Geoffrey Chew (1924–2019), American theoretical physicist
- Chew Kheng Chuan (born 1957), Singaporean academic administrator
- Wee-Lek Chew (born 1932), Singaporean-born botanist
Film and television edit
- Chew Chor Meng (born 1968), Singaporean actor
- Richard Chew (born 1940), American cinematographer
- Robert F. Chew (1960–2013), American actor
- Sam Chew Jr. (fl. 1973–present), American actor
Government, politics, and military edit
- Ada Nield Chew (1870–1945), British suffragist
- Benjamin Chew (1722–1810), American jurist
- Betty Chew (born 1964), Malaysian politician
- Beverly Chew (1773–1851), American merchant and diplomat
- Charles Chew (1922–1986), American politician
- Henry F. Chew (1837–1918), American colonel in the American Civil War and New Jersey dentist
- Chew Men Leong (fl. 1985–present), Singaporean civil servant and naval admiral
- R. Preston Chew (1843–1921), Confederate officer in the American Civil War and West Virginia businessman
- Samuel Chew (captain) (c. 1750 – 1778), captain in the American Continental Navy
- Samuel Chew (justice) (1699–1744), Chief Justice of colonial Delaware
- Scott Chew, American politician in Utah
- Sue Chew (fl. 2006–present), American politician in Idaho
- Chew Swee Kee (1918–1985), Singaporean politician
Musicians edit
- Hans Chew (born 1975), American pianist
- Chew Jun Ru (fl. 2009–present), Singaporean erhu player
- Ray Chew (born c. 1958), American jazz musician
- Chew Sin Huey (born 1981), Malaysian pop singer
Sport edit
- Chew Choon Eng (born 1976), Malaysian badminton player
- Danny Chew (born 1962), American cyclist
- Fleur Chew (born 1981), Australian rower
- Jack Chew (1915–1984), English football full back
- Jackie Chew (1920–2002), English football winger
- Jennifer Chew (born 1983), American Paralympic wheelchair basketball player
- Danny Chew Ji Xiang (born 1987), Singaporean football defender
- Michael Chew (born 1962), Malaysian field hockey player
- Phillip Chew (born 1994), American badminton player, brother of Ryan Chew
- Chew Pok Cheong (born 1970), Malaysian cricketer
- Ryan Chew (born 1996), American badminton player, brother of Phillip Chew
- Chew Yiwei (born 1995), Malaysian diver
Other edit
- Chew Choon Seng (fl. 1972–present), Singaporean businessman
- Dennis Chew (born 1973), Singaporean radio host
- Donevan Chew (fl. 2012–present), Malaysian advertising director
- Elim Chew (born 1966), Singaporean clothing businesswoman
- Emily Chew (fl. 1977–present), American ophthalmologist
- Chew Gek Khim (born 1961), Singaporean businesswoman
- Chew Hoong Ling (born 1980), Malaysian writer and inspirational speaker
- John Chew (born 1947), Singaporean Anglican priest
- Paddy Chew (1960–1999), Singaporean with AIDS
- Ron Chew (born 1953), American community organizer
- Ruth Chew (1920–2010), American children's writer
- Thomas Foon Chew (1889–1932), Chinese American businessman
See also edit
- Chew (disambiguation)
- Ng Poon Chew (1866–1931), Chinese-American writer and publisher (surname Ng, given name Poon Chew)
References edit
- ^ Abram, William Alexander (1873). "A History of the Township of Billington, in the Parish of Blackburn Co., Lancaster; its Ancient Families, Lords, and Freehodlers; with an Account of the Parochial Chapel and Chapelry of Langho: Part I". Transactions of the Historic Society of Lancashire and Cheshire. 13 (25). Retrieved 23 October 2018.
- ^ a b Hanks, Patrick; Coates, Richard; McClure, Peter, eds. (2016). The Oxford Dictionary of Family Names in Britain and Ireland. Oxford University Press. p. 489. ISBN 9780192527479.
- ^ Hanks, Coates & McClure 2016, p. 489, entry #2
- ^ Hanks, Coates & McClure 2016, p. 489, entry #3
- ^ Hanks, Coates & McClure 2016, p. 489, entries #4–8
- ^ Hanks, Coates & McClure 2016, p. 489, entry #4. For the Teochew pronunciation, see Fielde, Adele M. (1883). "周". A pronouncing and defining dictionary of the Swatow dialect, arranged according to syllables and tones. Shanghai: American Presbyterian Mission Press. p. 59. Additionally see "周". mogher.com. Retrieved 11 January 2018.
- ^ Hanks, Coates & McClure 2016, p. 489, entry #7
- ^ Hanks, Coates & McClure 2016, p. 489, entry #8; and Louie, Emma Woo (1988). Chinese American Names: Tradition and Transition. McFarland. pp. 182, 183. ISBN 9780786438778.
- ^ Hanks, Coates & McClure 2016, pp. 489 (entry #9), 505
- ^ "행정구역(구시군)/성씨·본관별 가구 및 인구" [Family names by administrative region (district, city, county): separated by bon-gwan, households and individuals]. Korean Statistical Information Service. Retrieved 20 October 2018.
- ^ "How common is your last name?". Newsday. Retrieved 5 September 2018.
- ^ "Most common last names for Asians and Pacific Islanders in the U.S." Mongabay. Retrieved 8 January 2018.
This page lists people with the surname Chew.
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