Zu is the Mandarin pinyin romanization of the Chinese surname written 祖 in Chinese character. It is romanized Tsu in Wade–Giles. It is listed 249th in the Song dynasty classic text Hundred Family Surnames.^[1] It is not among the 300 most common surnames in China.^[2]

• Zu Ti (祖逖; 266–321), celebrated Eastern Jin general
• Zu Yue (祖約; died 330), Eastern Jin general, younger brother of Zu Ti
• Zu Chongzhi (429–500), Liu Song dynasty mathematician and astronomer
• Zu Gengzhi (450? – 520?), mathematician, son of Zu Chongzhi
• Zu Ting (6th century), scholar-official of the Northern Qi dynasty
• Zu Xiaosun (6th – 7th century), Sui and Tang dynasty musician
• Zu Yong (699–746?), Tang dynasty poet
• Zu Dashou (died 1656), Ming dynasty general who surrendered to the Qing
• Zu Zhiwang (祖之望; 1754–1813), Qing dynasty Governor of Hunan and Shandong provinces
• John B. Tsu (1924–2005), Chinese academic and lobbyist for Asians in the United States
• Jidi or Zu Yale (born 1983), cartoonist and illustrator