Zhōu is the Hanyu Pinyin transliteration of the Chinese family name 周, which now ranks as the 10th most common surname in Mainland China. It has been one of the ten most common surnames in China since the Yuan Dynasty.
In places which use the Wade-Giles romanization such as Taiwan, Zhou is usually spelled as "Chou" (ㄓㄡ), and it may also be spelled "Chiau", "Chau", "Chew", "Chow", "Chou", "Chu", "Jhou", "Joe", "Jou", "Jue", or "Jow". Zhōu can also stand for another, rare Chinese family name, 洲.
The Vietnamese equivalent is "Châu" or "Chu".