A surname from the ancient State of Gu, prominent in the Jiangnan literati world.
Why it scores this way
Easy to say96
Reads the way it looks for an English speaker — no sounds English doesn't have.
Recognised in China68
Common enough that most Chinese speakers recognise it (roughly the top 100).
Easy to write70
10 strokes — a little practice and it flows.
People who carried this name
Gu Yanwu — Ming-Qing scholar (1613–1682), giant of Qing scholarship and thought.
Gu Kaizhi — Eastern Jin dynasty painter and theorist, famous for figure paintings and the masterpiece 'Admonitions of the Instructress to the Court Ladies'.
Gu Cheng — Modern Chinese poet, a leading figure of the Misty Poetry movement, known for works like 'A Generation' and 'Yekai'.