Cao is the

pinyin Hanyu Pinyin (), often shortened to just pinyin, is the official romanization system for Standard Mandarin Chinese in China, and to some extent, in Singapore and Malaysia. It is often used to teach Mandarin, normally written in Chinese for ...

romanization Romanization or romanisation, in linguistics, is the conversion of text from a different writing system to the Roman (Latin) script, or a system for doing so. Methods of romanization include transliteration, for representing written text, and ...

of the

Chinese surname Chinese surnames are used by Han Chinese and Sinicized ethnic groups in China, Taiwan, Korea, Vietnam, and among overseas Chinese communities around the world such as Singapore and Malaysia. Written Chinese names begin with surnames, unlike the ...

(''Cáo''). It is listed 26th in the

Song A song is a musical composition intended to be performed by the human voice. This is often done at distinct and fixed pitches (melodies) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs contain various forms, such as those including the repetitio ...

-era ''

Hundred Family Surnames The ''Hundred Family Surnames'' (), commonly known as ''Bai Jia Xing'', also translated as ''Hundreds of Chinese Surnames'', is a classic Chinese text composed of common Chinese surnames. An unknown author compiled the book during the Song dy ...

'' poem. Cao is romanized as "Tsao" in Wade-Giles (Ts'ao), which is widely adopted in

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...

, although the apostrophe is often omitted in practice. It is romanized "Cho", "Tso", and "Chaw" in

Cantonese Cantonese ( zh, t=廣東話, s=广东话, first=t, cy=Gwóngdūng wá) is a language within the Chinese (Sinitic) branch of the Sino-Tibetan languages originating from the city of Guangzhou (historically known as Canton) and its surrounding are ...

; "Chou", "Chô", and "Chháu" in

Hokkien The Hokkien () variety of Chinese is a Southern Min language native to and originating from the Minnan region, where it is widely spoken in the south-eastern part of Fujian in southeastern mainland China. It is one of the national languages in ...

; and "Chau", "Chow" in Teochew.The

Vietnamese surname Traditional Vietnamese personal names generally consist of three parts, used in Eastern name order. * A family name (normally patrilineal, The father’s family name may be combined with the mother's family name to form a compound family name). ...

based on it is now written " Tào". It is romanized "Zau" or "Dzau" in Shanghainese.

Distribution

Cao is the 30th-most-common surname in

mainland China "Mainland China" is a geopolitical term defined as the territory governed by the People's Republic of China (including islands like Hainan or Chongming), excluding dependent territories of the PRC, and other territories within Greater China. ...

as of 2019 and the 58th-most-common surname on

. In the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, the romanization Cao is a fairly common surname, ranked 7,425th during the 1990 census but 2,986th during the year 2000 census. It is one of the few Chinese surnames whose pinyin transcription is already more common than other variants. The

Wade Wade, WADE, or Wades may refer to: Places in the United States * Wade, California, a former settlement * Wade, Maine, a town * Wade, Mississippi, a census-designated place * Wade, North Carolina, a town * Wade, Ohio, an unincorporated communi ...

transcription Tsao was only ranked 16,306th during the 1990 census and 12,580th during the year 2000 one. The

transcription is actually becoming less common, falling from 7,638th place to 9,925th.

US Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The Census Bureau is part of the ...

. Op. cit. Public Broadcasting Service.
How Popular Is Your Last Name?
Accessed 6 Apr 2012. The Korean name Cho is more common still than Cao, befitting its frequency in Korea itself, where it makes up about 2% of the South Korean population: see Cho (Korean name).

History

Cáo's former pronunciations have been reconstructed as ''*N-tsˤu'' in

Old Chinese Old Chinese, also called Archaic Chinese in older works, is the oldest attested stage of Chinese language, Chinese, and the ancestor of all modern varieties of Chinese. The earliest examples of Chinese are divinatory inscriptions on oracle bones ...

and ''Dzaw'' in

Middle Chinese Middle Chinese (formerly known as Ancient Chinese) or the Qieyun system (QYS) is the historical variety of Chinese recorded in the '' Qieyun'', a rime dictionary first published in 601 and followed by several revised and expanded editions. The ...

.Baxter, Wm. H. & Sagart, Laurent. '' ''. 2011. Accessed 11 October 2011. It originated from the Zhou-era Duchy of Cao founded by . The later claim that Cao is said to have been descended from the

Yellow Emperor The Yellow Emperor, also known as the Yellow Thearch or by his Chinese name Huangdi (), is a deity ('' shen'') in Chinese religion, one of the legendary Chinese sovereigns and culture heroes included among the mytho-historical Three Soverei ...

via the Zhuanxu Emperor should not be confused with the Chinese surname Gao or the Vietnamese surname Cao. It was the origin of the modern Cāo and Zhu families. Yan (顏) was from Cao (曹). * Another origin is that it is derived from the

ancestral name In some cultures, a surname, family name, or last name is the portion of one's personal name that indicates one's family, tribe or community. Practices vary by culture. The family name may be placed at either the start of a person's full name ...

of a descendant of

Zhurong Zhurong (), also known as Chongli (), is an important personage in Chinese mythology and Chinese folk religion. According to the '' Huainanzi'' and the philosophical texts of Mozi and his followers, Zhurong is a god of fire and of the south. Th ...

, , the founder of the state of Zhu, later named Zou, and located in modern Zouxian, Shandong. After the state was annexed by Chu during the Spring and Autumn period Cao (曹) was adopted as a surname by its former subjects.The Oxford Dictionary of Family Names in Britain and Ireland * from the name of a state, State of Cao (曹国), (located in Dingtao in Shandong province) granted to Zhenduo, the thirteenth son of the virtuous King Wen of Zhou. After the state was annexed by

, Cao (曹) was adopted as a surname. * Taken as a surname by the Sogdians when they came to China and became one of the " Nine Sogdian Surnames", also known as 'nine surnames of Zhaowu'.

Other surnames

Cao can also serve as the romanization for the Chinese surnames ''Cāo'' (), ''Cǎo'' (), and ''Cào'' () as well; however, they are not nearly so common. They were both unlisted among the ''Hundred Family Surnames'' and do not appear among any list of the current popular surnames. Cāo was likely ''*tsʰˤawʔ'' in Old Chinese and ''TshawX'' in Middle Chinese; its original meaning was "grasp". It originated from the given name of one of Cao Cao's descendants after the establishment of

Cao Wei Wei ( Hanzi: 魏; pinyin: ''Wèi'' < Middle Chinese: *''ŋjwei^C'' <

curse word Profanity, also known as cursing, cussing, swearing, bad language, foul language, obscenities, expletives or vulgarism, is a socially offensive use of language. Accordingly, profanity is language use that is sometimes deemed impolite, ru ...

depends on a recent homophone and is unrelated to the surname. Cǎo was likely ''*tsʰˤuʔ'' in Old Chinese, but had become a homophonous ''TshawX'' by Middle Chinese; its meaning is still "grass" and similar plants.

List of people with the surname

Historical figures

* Cao Teng, Eunuch of the Han Dynasty, Cao Cao's grandfather *

Cao Song Cao Song (died 193), courtesy name Jugao, was an official who lived during the Eastern Han dynasty of China. He was the foster son of the eunuch Cao Teng and the father of the warlord Cao Cao, who rose to prominence in the final years of Easter ...

, Official of the Han Dynasty, Cao Cao's father * Cao Cao (155–220), Warlord and Chancellor of The

Han dynasty The Han dynasty (, ; ) was an imperial dynasty of China (202 BC – 9 AD, 25–220 AD), established by Liu Bang (Emperor Gao) and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by the short-lived Qin dynasty (221–207 BC) and a warr ...

, laid the foundation of Cao Wei *

Consort Duan (Cao) Consort Duan (曹端妃; d. 1542), of the Cao clan, was a Ming dynasty Concubinage#China, concubine of the Jiajing Emperor. She was one of the emperor's most beloved concubines, but was implicated in an assassination attempt and subsequently execu ...

, concubine of the

Jiajing Emperor The Jiajing Emperor (; 16September 150723January 1567) was the 12th Emperor of the Ming dynasty, reigning from 1521 to 1567. Born Zhu Houcong, he was the former Zhengde Emperor's cousin. His father, Zhu Youyuan (1476–1519), Prince of Xing, w ...

during the

Ming dynasty The Ming dynasty (), officially the Great Ming, was an imperial dynasty of China, ruling from 1368 to 1644 following the collapse of the Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming dynasty was the last orthodox dynasty of China ruled by the Han peo ...

, executed for conspiracy in a plot to assassinate him *

Cao Fang Cao Fang () (232–274), courtesy name Lanqing, was the third emperor of the state of Cao Wei during the Three Kingdoms period. He was an adopted son of Cao Rui, the second ruler of Wei. Cao Fang ruled from 239 to 254 as a nominal emperor be ...

(232–274), third emperor of the state of

Cao Wei Wei ( Hanzi: 魏; pinyin: ''Wèi'' < Middle Chinese: *''ŋjwei^C'' <

Three Kingdoms period The Three Kingdoms () from 220 to 280 AD was the tripartite division of China among the dynastic states of Cao Wei, Shu Han, and Eastern Wu. The Three Kingdoms period was preceded by the Eastern Han dynasty and was followed by the We ...

Cao Mao Cao Mao () (241 – 2 June 260), courtesy name Yanshi, was the fourth emperor of the state of Cao Wei during the Three Kingdoms period of China. He was a grandson of Cao Pi, the first emperor of Wei. Described as intelligent and studious ...

, Fourth emperor of the state of

Cao Wei Wei ( Hanzi: 魏; pinyin: ''Wèi'' < Middle Chinese: *''ŋjwei^C'' <

* Cao Huan, Fifth and last emperor of the state of

Cao Wei Wei ( Hanzi: 魏; pinyin: ''Wèi'' < Middle Chinese: *''ŋjwei^C'' <

Cao Hong Cao Hong (died 232), courtesy name Zilian, was a Chinese military general of the state of Cao Wei during the Three Kingdoms period of China. He started his career in the late Eastern Han dynasty under the warlord Cao Cao, who was his older secon ...

(d. 232), Cao Cao's cousin, general of

Cao Wei Wei ( Hanzi: 魏; pinyin: ''Wèi'' < Middle Chinese: *''ŋjwei^C'' <

Cao Pi Cao Pi () ( – 29 June 226), courtesy name Zihuan, was the first emperor of the state of Cao Wei in the Three Kingdoms period of China. He was the second son of Cao Cao, a warlord who lived in the late Eastern Han dynasty, but the eldest ...

(187–226), Cao Cao's son, ended the

Han Dynasty The Han dynasty (, ; ) was an imperial dynasty of China (202 BC – 9 AD, 25–220 AD), established by Liu Bang (Emperor Gao) and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by the short-lived Qin dynasty (221–207 BC) and a warr ...

and founded the state of

Cao Wei Wei ( Hanzi: 魏; pinyin: ''Wèi'' < Middle Chinese: *''ŋjwei^C'' <

, ruled as the first emperor of Wei *

Cao Ren Cao Ren () (168 – 6 May 223), courtesy name Zixiao, was a military general serving during the late Eastern Han dynasty of China under the warlord Cao Cao, who was also his older second cousin. He continued serving in the state of Cao Wei � ...

(168–223), Cao Cao's cousin, general of

Cao Wei Wei ( Hanzi: 魏; pinyin: ''Wèi'' < Middle Chinese: *''ŋjwei^C'' <

Cao Rui Cao Rui () (204 or 206 – 22 January 239), courtesy name Yuanzhong, was the second emperor of the state of Cao Wei during the Three Kingdoms period. His parentage is in dispute: his mother, Lady Zhen, was Yuan Xi's wife, but she later rem ...

(205–239), Cao Pi's son, ruled as the second emperor of

Cao Wei Wei ( Hanzi: 魏; pinyin: ''Wèi'' < Middle Chinese: *''ŋjwei^C'' <

Cao Shen Cao Shen or Cao Can (died 190 BC), courtesy name Jingbo (), was a chancellor of the Western Han dynasty. He participated in the Chu–Han Contention on Liu Bang (Emperor Gaozu of Han)'s side and contributed greatly to the founding of the Han dyn ...

(d. 190),

chancellor *

Cao Shuang Cao Shuang (died 9 February 249), courtesy name Zhaobo, was a Chinese military general and regent of the state of Cao Wei during the Three Kingdoms period of China. He was the eldest son of Cao Zhen, a prominent general of Wei. He initially hel ...

(d. 249), Cao Zhen's son, regent of

Cao Wei Wei ( Hanzi: 魏; pinyin: ''Wèi'' < Middle Chinese: *''ŋjwei^C'' <

Sima Yi *

Cao Xiu Cao Xiu (died 29 September 228?), courtesy name Wenlie, was a Chinese military general of the state of Cao Wei in the Three Kingdoms period of China. A distant younger relative of the warlord Cao Cao, Cao Xiu started his career in the late Ea ...

(d. 228), a distant nephew of Cao Cao, general of

Cao Wei Wei ( Hanzi: 魏; pinyin: ''Wèi'' < Middle Chinese: *''ŋjwei^C'' <

Cao Zhang Cao Zhang () (189 – 1 August 223), courtesy name Ziwen, nickname "The Yellow Goatee" (黃鬚兒), was a prince of the state of Cao Wei during the Three Kingdoms period of China. He was a son of Cao Cao, a warlord who rose to power towards t ...

(d. 223), Cao Cao's son, served as a general under his father *

Cao Zhen Cao Zhen (died April or May 231), courtesy name Zidan, was a military general of the state of Cao Wei during the Three Kingdoms period of China. He was an adopted son of Cao Cao, a warlord who rose to power in the late Eastern Han dynasty and l ...

(d. 231), a distant nephew of Cao Cao, general of

Cao Wei Wei ( Hanzi: 魏; pinyin: ''Wèi'' < Middle Chinese: *''ŋjwei^C'' <

Cao Zhi Cao Zhi (; ; 192 – 27 December 232), courtesy name Zijian (), posthumously known as Prince Si of Chen (陈思王), was a prince of the state of Cao Wei in the Three Kingdoms period of China, and an accomplished poet in his time. His style o ...

(192–232), Cao Cao's son, a famous poet *

Empress Cao Jie Cao Jie () (died 2 July 260), formally known as Empress Xianmu, was an empress of the Eastern Han dynasty of China. She was the second wife of Emperor Xian, the last Han emperor, and became known as the Duchess of Shanyang after her husband's a ...

, Cao Cao's daughter, last Empress of the Han dynasty *

Cao Guojiu Cao Guojiu, literally Imperial Brother-in-law Cao, is a Chinese mythology, Chinese mythological figure and one of the Eight Immortals in the Taoism, Taoist pantheon. His real name was Cao Yi while his courtesy name was Jingxiu, and he was better k ...

, or royal uncle Cao, Song dynasty royalty immortalized as one of the

Eight Immortals The Eight Immortals () are a group of legendary '' xian'' ("immortals") in Chinese mythology. Each immortal's power can be transferred to a vessel () that can bestow life or destroy evil. Together, these eight vessels are called the "Covert Eight ...

Chinese mythology Chinese mythology () is mythology that has been passed down in oral form or recorded in literature in the geographic area now known as Greater China. Chinese mythology includes many varied myths from regional and cultural traditions. Much of t ...

Cao Bin Cao Bin () (931 - 999) was a military general in history of China, imperial China. A nephew-in-law of Guo Wei, who founded the Later Zhou in 951, Cao first rose up through the ranks of the Later Zhou military. After the Song Dynasty replaced Lat ...

, Military general of the Song dynasty *

Cao Xueqin Cáo Xuěqín ( ; ); (4 April 1710 — 10 June 1765)Briggs, Asa (ed.) (1989) ''The Longman Encyclopedia'', Longman, was a Chinese writer during the Qing dynasty. He is best known as the author of ''Dream of the Red Chamber'', one of the Four G ...

(1715 or 1724—1763 or 1764), author of the Chinese classic novel ''

Dream of the Red Chamber ''Dream of the Red Chamber'' (''Honglou Meng'') or ''The Story of the Stone'' (''Shitou Ji'') is a novel composed by Cao Xueqin in the middle of the 18th century. One of the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese literature, it is known fo ...

'' *

Terence Cao Terence Cao Guohui (born 6 October 1967) is a Singaporean television actor. Biography Cao studied at Anglo-Chinese School for both his primary and secondary education. Cao used to be a flight attendant and joined Singapore Broadcasting Corpora ...

, Singaporean actor ** Cao Lỗ, weaponry engineer and minister

Modern figures

Cao Kun General Cao Kun (; courtesy name: Zhongshan () (December 12, 1862 – May 15, 1938) was a Chinese warlord and politician, who served the President of the Republic of China from 1923 to 1924, as well as the military leader of the Zhili clique ...

(1862-1938), a military leader in the

Zhili clique The Zhili clique () was one of several mutually hostile cliques or factions that split from the Beiyang clique during the Republic of China's Warlord Era. This fragmentation followed the death of Yuan Shikai, who was the only person capable of ...

during the Warlord Era *

Cao Yu Cao Yu (, September 24, 1910 — December 13, 1996) was a Chinese playwright, often regarded as one of China's most important of the 20th century. His best-known works are ''Thunderstorm'' (1933), ''Sunrise'' (1936) and ''Peking Man'' (1940). ...

(1910-1996), the pen name of Wan Jiabao, an important playwright in modern China * Huai-Dong Cao (b. 1959), mathematician and managing editor of the ''

Journal of Differential Geometry The ''Journal of Differential Geometry'' is a peer-reviewed scientific journal of mathematics published by International Press on behalf of Lehigh University in 3 volumes of 3 issues each per year. The journal publishes an annual supplement in b ...

'' *

Cao Gangchuan Cao Gangchuan (; born December 1935) was vice chairman of the Central Military Commission and former Minister of National Defense A defence minister or minister of defence is a cabinet official position in charge of a ministry of defense, ...

(b. 1935), former Chinese Minister of Defence *

Chin-hui Tsao Chin-Hui Tsao (; born June 2, 1981) is a Taiwanese former professional baseball pitcher. He is the second major league player, and the first major league pitcher from Taiwan. Like the first Taiwanese major league player, former Los Angeles Dodg ...

(b. 1981), Major League Baseball pitcher for the

Los Angeles Dodgers The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Established in 1883 in the city of Brooklyn ...

Peter Tsao Peter Tsao Kwang-yung, CBE (1989) ( Chinese: 曹廣榮; born 7 October 1933, Shanghai – died 5 June 2005, Thailand) was a career civil servant of Hong Kong. Tsao was Secretary for Administrative Services and Information (行政司) and Secret ...

(1933–2005), Hong Kong civil servant * Tsao Chieh (1953–1996), Singaporean composer and engineer *

Tsao Chun-yang Tsao Chun-yang (, born 29 March 1976 in Tainan, Taiwan) is a retired Taiwanese baseball player. He is the only person in CPBL history to have won Rookie of the Year award and Most Valuable Player award in the same year, in the 1999 season. He ...

(b. 1976), Taiwanese baseball player for the

Uni-President Lions The Uni-President 7-Eleven Lions, stylized as Uni-President 7-ᴇʟᴇᴠᴇn Lions, also known as Uni-Lions (), are a professional baseball team playing in the Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL). The Lions are based in Tainan City, Ta ...

* Miguel Tsao, Taiwanese Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs * Cho Tat-wah (1915–2007), Hong Kong actor *

Mandy Cho Mandy Lee Cho (born 2 September 1982 in Sacramento County, California)Date of birth found on the ''California Birth Index 1905-1995'', under Cho, Mandy Lee, on 2 September 1982 in Sacramento County. is a Hong Kong beauty contestant and televisio ...

(b. 1982), Hong Kong entertainer * Raymond Cho (b. 1936), Hong Kong politician * Raymond Cho (b. 1964), Hong Kong actor *

Gary Chaw Gary Chaw (; Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: Tshâu Kak; born 9 July 1979 in Kota Belud, Sabah, Malaysia), also known as Gary Cao or Cao Ge or by his alter ego Cao Xiaoge, is a Malaysian Chinese singer-songwriter based in Taiwan, who has had achieved success i ...

, Malaysian Chinese singer-songwriter based in

Cao Yupeng Cao Yupeng (; born 27 October 1990) is a Chinese professional snooker player. He won the 2011 Asian Under-21 Championship, thus qualifying for the professional main tour for the 2011–12 season. In his first season on the circuit, he reached ...

(Chinese snooker player) *

Cao Lu Cao Lu (; born August 30, 1987) is a Chinese singer, actress, and television personality. She was a member of the South Korean girl group Fiestar. Early life Cao Lu was born in Zhangjiajie, Hunan, China on August 30, 1987. She is an ethnic Miao ...

(b. 1987), Chinese singer, actress & former member of the K Pop girl group Fiestar *

Tsao Chi-hung Tsao Chi-hung (; born 1 March 1948) is a Taiwanese politician. A member of the Democratic Progressive Party, he was a member of the National Assembly from 1992 to 1994 and has served two terms each in the Legislative Yuan and as Pingtung County ...

, Minister of Council of Agriculture of the Republic of China (2016–2017) * Paul Cao, Computer Science and Engineering Professor at the University of California, San Diego * Cho Miyeon (b. 1997), Korean actress, dancer & main vocalist of the K-Pop girl group (G)I-DLE. Also plays as the voice & singer behind Ahri of

K/DA K/DA is a virtual K-pop girl group consisting of four themed versions of ''League of Legends'' characters Ahri, Akali, Evelynn and Kai'Sa. (G)I-dle members Miyeon and Soyeon as well as American singers Madison Beer and Jaira Burns provide ...

(

LoL LOL, or lol, is an initialism for laughing out loud and a popular element of Internet slang. It was first used almost exclusively on Usenet, but has since become widespread in other forms of computer-mediated communication and even face-to ...

) *

Cao Ruyin Kho Jabing (4 January 1984 – 20 May 2016), later in life Muhammad Kho Abdullah, was a Malaysian of mixed Chinese and Iban descent from Sarawak, Malaysia, who partnered with a friend to rob and murder a Chinese construction worker named Cao Ruyi ...

, (1967 or 1968–2008), Chinese construction worker and deceased victim of a murder case in

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...

. His killer

Kho Jabing Kho Jabing (4 January 1984 – 20 May 2016), later in life Muhammad Kho Abdullah, was a Malaysian of mixed Chinese and Iban descent from Sarawak, Malaysia, who partnered with a friend to rob and murder a Chinese construction worker named Cao Ru ...

, a Malaysian, was hanged in 2016. * Victor Dzau, (b. 1947), President of the United States National Academy of Medicine (formerly the Institute of Medicine) of the United States National Academy of Sciences * Cao Yang, is a Chinese international football player

References

{{surname Chinese-language surnames Individual Chinese surnames Eight surnames of Zhurong

Distribution

History

Other surnames

List of people with the surname

Historical figures

Modern figures

See also

References