Yao (surname)

Yao
Yao surname in regular script
Pronunciation	Yáo (Pinyin) Iâu (Pe̍h-ōe-jī)
Language(s)	Chinese, Vietnamese
Origin
Language(s)	Old Chinese
Word/Name	Henan Fan County or Shandong[1]
Other names
Variant(s)	Yao (Mandarin) Yiu (Cantonese) Iao, Iau (Hokkien) Diêu (Vietnamese)

Yao (Chinese: 姚; pinyin: Yáo), also romanized as Yiu in Cantonese, is one of the most ancient Chinese surnames. It is ranked 101st in the Hundred Family Surnames, and as the 51st most common surname in Mainland China.^[2]

Alternate spellings

• Mandarin: Yao
• Cantonese: Yiu
• Min Nan (Hokkien (Fujian)/Teochew): Iao, Iau
• Vietnamese: Diêu
• Korean: Yo
• Japanese: Yō
• Singapore: Yow

Prominent people

• Yao
  • Emperor Shun, a legendary leader of ancient China whose ancestral name is Yao, one of the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors in ancient China.
  • Andrew Chi-Chih Yao, a Chinese computer scientist and A.M. Turing Award laureate.
  • Jianping Yao, Canadian engineer
  • Yao Ming, a retired Chinese professional basketball player
  • Yao Wenyuan, member of the Gang of Four
  • MC HotDog (born name as Yao Chung-jen), a Taiwanese rap artist known for his use of explicit lyrics in his songs.
  • Yao Beina, a famous Chinese singer.
• Yiu
  • Claire Yiu, a Hong Kong actress.

References

1. Southern Song《通志·氏族略》records：「姚姓，虞之姓也，虞帝生於姚墟，故因生以為姓」
2. (Chinese) 公安部统计分析显示：王姓成为我国第一大姓

Learning of the Chinese culture- the Yao dynasty