Liu is a Chinese family name. The transliteration Liu can represent several Chinese characters, the family names 劉 (刘 in Simplified Chinese) (Lau in Cantonese), 柳, 留 and 六. In Cantonese transliteration, Liu is yet another name, 廖.

劉 is an extremely popular name, as it was used by the ruling family of the Han Dynasty - a high point in the history of China.

Prominent people with family name 劉

• The Liu royals of the following dynasties:
  • the Han Dynasty,
  • the Shu Kingdom in the Period of the Three Kingdoms,
  • the Han Zhao Kingdom and the Xia Kingdom in the Period of the Sixteen Kingdoms,
  • the Song Dynasty of the Southern Dynasties,
  • the Later Han Dynasty and the Northern Han Kingdom and the Southern Han Kingdom of the Period of the Five Dynasties and the Ten Kingdoms.
• Liu Huaqing, PRC politician
• Liu Hui, mathematician
• Liu Shaoqi, PRC politician
• Liu Wenjing , one of the advisors of Tang Gaozu
• Liu Xiang, athlete
• Andy Lau, singer
• Lucy Liu, actress
• Evelyn Lau, writer

Prominent people with family name 柳

• Liu Gongquan, a poet and calligrapher
• Liu Zongyuan, a poet during Tang Dynasty
• Yoo Soo-young, one third of the Korean pop group S.E.S.