[1] Some places such as South Korea, and early immigrants from Wu-speaking region in China usually romanize this family name as Goo, Koo, or Ku.

[citation needed] In South Korea, most people bearing the surname Gu (Korean: 구) use the hanja character 具 and 丘.

[citation needed] The founder king of Xia dynasty, Yu the Great, died in Kuaiji (会稽), nowadays Shaoxing, on his last imperial inspection tour, and was buried there (禹穴).

[citation needed] A second, southern lineage of the family Gu descends from this branch, although they technically did not obtain that name until the Han dynasty.

[5] [6] This family name can be found mostly in eastern and southern Chinese provinces, especially in Jiangsu, Northern Zhejiang, and around the city of Shanghai, and is sometimes romanized as Koo.