Chau

Chau is a name that appears in several distinct linguistic and cultural contexts. In Western and Chinese diaspora communities, Chau is commonly encountered as a surname of Cantonese origin, often derived from multiple Chinese surnames. Its spelling reflects a variety of dialects and romanization systems, and it is sometimes interchangeable with Chow or Chou in English-language texts.

In Vietnamese usage, Chau is found in the diacritic form Châu, where it can function as both a surname and a given name. The meaning depends on the chosen Chinese-derived characters; as a given name it is commonly associated with positive attributes such as brightness or nobility, and in some characters it may refer to pearl or continent.

As a personal name, Chau appears in literature and public life among people of East Asian descent living in the diaspora. A widely cited example is Chau Chak Wing, an Australian-Chinese businessman after whom the Chau Chak Wing Building at the University of Technology Sydney is named.

The name Chau, in its various spellings, is one of several romanizations of similar-sounding surnames across East and Southeast Asia, and it can be related to other forms such as Chow, Zhou, and Zhu.