Where the name comes from
The surname is the name of the ancient state of Xu (徐國). The genealogies run: Bo Yi assisted Yu the Great against the flood and his family was granted the noble name Ying (嬴); and Bo Yi's son Ruomu (若木) was enfeoffed at Xu. The state survived through the Xia, Shang and Zhou — 44 rulers in over a thousand years, its King Yan of Xu famously broken by King Mu of Zhou — and when it was finally conquered by Wu, its people took the state's name as their surname.
The same name, spelled differently
A Chinese surname is a character, not a spelling. The Latin letters on a passport come from whichever dialect the name was written down from — so these are all 徐.
- XuMandarin — mainland China, Taiwan
- Tsui / ChuiCantonese
- ChoiCantonese
- CheeHokkien
- Ser / SherTeochew
- ZeeShanghainese (Wu)
- Tjhie / Djie / TjieHakka
- HsuMandarin, Wade–Giles spelling — Taiwan and overseas
The character
Outside a name, 徐 is an ordinary word meaning slowly, quietly, calmly; dignified, composed.
- Strokes
- 10
- Radical
- 彳
- As a word
- xú
Words built from 徐
The character does ordinary work in the language too. Each of these is a real word you can look up.
Other surnames read “Xu”
Romanised the same way, but a different character and a different family.