Yao (surname)

Yao (Chinese: 姚; pinyin: Yáo), also romanized as Yiu in Cantonese, is one of the most ancient Chinese surnames, the "Eight Great Xings of High Antiquity". It is also unique that, along with Jiang 姜 it is still in common use in the modern day. It is listed 101st in the Hundred Family Surnames, and as the 51st most common surname in Mainland China.^[2]

PronunciationYáo (Pinyin)
Iâu (Pe̍h-ōe-jī)

LanguageChinese

Quick facts Pronunciation, Language ...

Yao
Origin
Yao surname in regular script
Pronunciation	Yáo (Pinyin) Iâu (Pe̍h-ōe-jī)
Language	Chinese
Language	Old Chinese
Word/name	Henan Fan County or Shandong^[1]
Other names
Variant forms	Yao (Mandarin) Yiu (Cantonese) Lao, Lau, Yeow (Hokkien) Diêu, Dao (Vietnamese) Yo (Korean) Yō (Japanese)

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Alternate spellings

Yao Chonghua, the name of Emperor Shun of pre-dynastic China, one of the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors
Yao Chang, founding emperor of the Later Qin Dynasty
Yao Ming, Chinese professional basketball player and humanitarian
Andrew Yao, Chinese computer scientist and A.M. Turing Award laureate
Jianping Yao, Canadian engineer
Yao Defen, former world's tallest woman
Yao Wenyuan, member of the Gang of Four
MC HotDog (born name as Yao Chung-jen), Taiwanese rapper
Yao Beina, Chinese singer
Yao Chen, Chinese actress
Yao Jen-to, Vice Chairperson and Secretary-General of Straits Exchange Foundation of the Republic of China
Yao Leeh-ter, Political Deputy Minister of Education of the Republic of China (2017–2019)
Yao Mingming, Former member of K-pop group BLK and C-pop Group UNINE
Yao Wenlong, Malaysia born Singapore actor
Jeanny Yao, Canadian biochemist, technology entrepreneur and environmentalist; jointly identified a bacteria that breaks down phthalates and co-founded Novoloop
Matthias Yao, Singaporean politician