Originated from Zhou Chang:
The earliest appearance of Zhou surname can be traced back to the ancient Yellow Emperor period. According to Textual Research on Surnames, it is said that there was a general named Zhou Chang in the Yellow Emperor, and there was another Taishi named Zhou Ren in the Shang Dynasty. The descendants of these two people all took Zhou as their surname.
from Ji surname:
from Ji surname, whose ancestor is Zhou Wenwang Ji Chang. Hou Ji, the descendant of the Yellow Emperor, surnamed Ji, was the ancestor of the Zhou clan. After the victory of the Duke of Zhou's eastward expedition, princes were enfeoffed on a large scale, including 53 countries with the surname of Ji.
Most of the descendants of these countries with the surname of Ji changed their surnames to country names, place names and grandfather names. After Zhou was destroyed by Qin in 256 BC, a considerable number of descendants of Zhou imperial clan and adherents of Zhou Dynasty took Zhou as their surname. This branch is generally regarded as the main source of Zhou surname in China.
Current situation:
The areas with the highest density of Zhou surname per unit area are in central Sichuan, southeastern Jiangsu and Shanghai, and the population of Zhou surname per square kilometer reaches more than 1, and the highest number can reach more than 14; Secondly, in most parts of Sichuan, northern Guizhou, Hubei, northern Hunan, Anhui, southeastern Shandong, northern Jiangsu and most parts of Zhejiang, the population of Zhou surname per square kilometer reaches 6-1.
The area with the highest density (more than 6 people per square kilometer) only accounts for 12.7% of the national territory, and the population of Zhou is about 9.15 million. The area with 2-6 people per square kilometer accounts for 36.4% of the national territory, and the population of Zhou is about 13.36 million. The area with less than 2 people per square kilometer accounts for 5.9% of the national territory, and the population of Zhou is about 2.93 million.
Zhou surnames are widely distributed, but they are not balanced. The schematic diagram of the distribution frequency of Zhou surname in the crowd shows that Zhou surname is one of the most common surnames in southwest China and the Yangtze River basin. In the western and central parts along the Yangtze River, that is, Sichuan, Guizhou and Hunan, Zhou's surname generally accounts for the highest proportion of the local population, above 2.8%, and some reach above 4.2%.
Extended information:
Zhou is a surname with a long history and complicated origins, which can be traced back to the ancient Yellow Emperor era. Zhou's surname originates from Ji's surname and is a descendant of the Yellow Emperor. But to be specific, the main origin of Zhou surname is in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period.
The royal family of the Zhou Dynasty is not Zhou, but Ji. After the establishment of the Western Zhou Dynasty, the descendants of Zhou Wenwang's fourth son, Duke Ji Dan, inherited the title of Duke Zhou. By the Spring and Autumn Period, Duke Black Shoulder was killed for rebellion, and the title of Duke Zhou's lineage was abolished. The descendants of Duke Black Shoulder took Zhou as their surname.
the Qin dynasty unified China and destroyed the Zhou dynasty, and the descendants of the Zhou dynasty took Zhou as their surname. Therefore, the surname Zhou can take Zhou Wenwang or Duke Zhou as the ancestor.
Reference: Baidu Encyclopedia-Zhou surname.