Chew is a Chinese, English or Korean surname.
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As an English surname, Chew has three separate origins:
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]
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]
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]
Notable people with the surname include:
Government, politics, and military
- 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
Sport
- 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
- 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
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.
"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.