Luu

Lưu or Luu without diacritics is a Vietnamese surname. It is also the Vietnamese and Khmer transliteration of the Chinese surname Liu (劉). during the Ancient, The Yao people use surname Liu (劉), H'mong-Mien Lìu, they emigrate from Guangdong, Guangxi, to Vietnam. During the Yuan dynasty, the Mongols used the surname Liu in Vietnam. Vietnam has endured centuries of constant occupation throughout history. With the Vietnamese people's resistance to these regimes, Luu garnered a meaning synonymous to war spikes. A reference to the sharpened bamboo traps more commonly known as . These the Vietnamese people would construct and employ to combat unsuspecting enemy forces moving through the jungle landscape--most famously documented in the Vietnam War.

According to folk-story "Hùng Vương Ngọc Phả" (Family tree of Hung King) one of 50 sons of Kinh Dương Vương there was Lưu Lang, who joined with Mother Âu Cơ and settled to northern mounta in Duyen Hung area of Van Lang. Luu Lang is considered the ancestor of all 12 Vietnamese/Kinh people who possessed the surname Luu. In another folktale "Sự tích trầu cau", a legend about areca nuts and betel leaves, a landlord with the surname Luu is mentioned. The offering of areca nuts and betel leaves to the ancestors is a Vietnamese wedding ritual. It's also an ancient legendary story only.

Between changes in Chinese dynasties and regimes, there were several major Luu/Liu (劉) families who immigrated to Vietnam. An example would be the Shu Han 蜀漢 dynasty where Emperor Liu (Luu) Bei's 劉備descendants left their capital Chengdu in Sichuan. After losing the Cao Wei 曹魏dynasty in the Three Kingdoms 三國 era, many royalties and peasants alike headed south and eventually escaped to Vietnam. Another major immigration period is in 1949 when the communist took over China and many loyal nationalists of the Republic of China left for Vietnam. Prior to the French occupation, Vietnamese writing was in Chinese characters and Luu was written as 劉. After the French occupation, alphabets were introduced and Liu (劉) surnames were spelt as Luu. In 1919, the French government abandoned the use of Chinese characters and forced the Vietnamese to strictly use Portugese's alphabet spelling system. Many descendants of Luu who speak Chinese would spell Luu in English and write 劉 as their Chinese surname.

Notable people with the surname Lưu[]

, Vietnamese Canadian Casual Valorant Player, brother of Simu Liu.
(chữ Hán: 劉基), one of "four important people" under Đinh Dynasty of Emperor Đinh Bộ Lĩnh. Lưu Cơ was the first mayor of Đại La city (modern Hanoi) nominated directly by Đinh Tiên Hoàng after Vietnam regained independence from China.
Lưu Văn Lợi, lawyer, former chief of Department for Border Department of SRV Government.
Lưu Quang Vũ, Vietnamese playwright, poet and writer
Đinh Xuân Lưu, Vietnamese Ambassador to Poland and Israel
Jane Luu, Vietnamese American astronomer
Janette Luu, Vietnamese-American broadcaster
Lưu Huỳnh, Vietnamese American film director
Luu Meng, Chinese Cambodian chef, culinary author and hospitality entrepreneur
Lưu Trọng Lư, Vietnamese poet, writer, play writer
Thang Luu, Vietnamese American professional poker