Cao is the pinyin romanization of the Chinese surname (''Cáo''). It is listed 26th in the Song Dynasty, Song-era ''Hundred Family Surnames'' poem. Cao is romanized as "Tsao" in Wade-Giles (Ts'ao), which is widely adopted in Taiwan, although the apostrophe is often omitted in practice. It is romanized "Cho", "Tso", and "Chaw" in Cantonese; "Chou", "Chô", and "Chháu" in Hokkien; and "Chau", "Chow" in Teochew dialect, Teochew.The Vietnamese surname based on it is now written "Tao (surname), Tào". It is romanized "Zau" or "Dzau" in Shanghainese.

Distribution

Cao is the list of common Chinese surnames#People's Republic, 30th-most-common surname in mainland China as of 2019 and the list of common Chinese surnames#Republic, 58th-most-common surname on Taiwan. In the United States, the romanization Cao is a fairly list of common US surnames, common surname, ranked 7,425th during the 1990 US Census, 1990 census but 2,986th during the year 2000 US census, 2000 census. It is one of the few Chinese surnames whose pinyin transcription is already more common than other variants. The Wade-Giles, Wade transcription Tsao was only ranked 16,306th during the 1990 census and 12,580th during the year 2000 one. The romanization of Cantonese, Cantonese transcription is actually becoming less common, falling from 7,638th place to 9,925th.US Census Bureau. Op. cit. Public Broadcasting Service.
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Accessed 6 Apr 2012. The Korean name Cho (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 and ''Dzaw'' in Middle Chinese.Baxter, Wm. H. & Sagart, Laurent. '' ''. 2011. Accessed 11 October 2011. It originated from the Zhou Dynasty, Zhou-era Cao (state), Duchy of Cao founded by . The later claim that Cao is said to have been descended from the Yellow Emperor 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 (surname), Zhu families. Yan (surname 顏), Yan (顏) was from Cao (曹). * Another origin is that it is derived from the ancestral name of a descendant of Zhurong, , the founder of the state of Zhu, later named Zou (state), Zou, and located in modern Zouxian, Shandong. After the state was annexed by Chu (state), 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, Cao (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 Song (state), Song, 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. Its modern use as a Chinese curse words#sex, curse word 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, Official of the Han Dynasty, Cao Cao's father * Cao Cao (155–220), Warlord and Chancellor of The Han dynasty, laid the foundation of Cao Wei * Consort Duan (Cao), concubine of the Jiajing Emperor during the Ming dynasty, executed for conspiracy in a plot to assassinate him * Cao Fang (232–274), third emperor of the state of Cao Wei in the Three Kingdoms period * Cao Mao, Fourth emperor of the state of Cao Wei in the Three Kingdoms period * Cao Huan, Fifth and last emperor of the state of Cao Wei in the Three Kingdoms period * Cao Hong (d. 232), Cao Cao's cousin, general of Cao Wei * Cao Pi (187–226), Cao Cao's son, ended the Han Dynasty and founded the state of Cao Wei in the Three Kingdoms period, ruled as the first emperor of Wei * Cao Ren (168–223), Cao Cao's cousin, general of Cao Wei * Cao Rui (205–239), Cao Pi's son, ruled as the second emperor of Cao Wei * Cao Shen (d. 190), Han Dynasty chancellor * Cao Shuang (d. 249), Cao Zhen's son, regent of Cao Wei during Cao Fang's reign, later lost power to Sima Yi * Cao Xiu (d. 228), a distant nephew of Cao Cao, general of Cao Wei * Cao Zhang (d. 223), Cao Cao's son, served as a general under his father * Cao Zhen (d. 231), a distant nephew of Cao Cao, general of Cao Wei * Cao Zhi (192–232), Cao Cao's son, a famous poet * Empress Cao Jie, Cao Cao's daughter, last Empress of the Han dynasty * Cao Guojiu, or royal uncle Cao, Song dynasty royalty immortalized as one of the Eight Immortals in Chinese mythology * Cao Bin, Military general of the Song dynasty * Cao Xueqin (1715 or 1724—1763 or 1764), author of the Chinese classic novel ''Dream of the Red Chamber'' * Terence Cao, Singaporean actor ** Cao Lỗ, weaponry engineer and minister

Modern figures

* Cao Kun (1862-1938), a military leader in the Zhili clique during the Warlord Era * Cao Yu (playwright), Cao Yu (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'' * Cao Gangchuan (b. 1935), former Chinese Minister of Defence * Chin-hui Tsao (b. 1981), Major League Baseball pitcher for the Los Angeles Dodgers * Peter Tsao (1933–2005), Hong Kong civil servant * Tsao Chieh (1953–1996), Singaporean composer and engineer * Tsao Chun-yang (b. 1976), Taiwanese baseball player for the Uni-President Lions * Miguel Tsao, Taiwanese Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs * Cho Tat-wah (1915–2007), Hong Kong actor * Mandy Cho (b. 1982), Hong Kong entertainer * Raymond Cho (politician), Raymond Cho (b. 1936), Hong Kong politician * Raymond Cho (actor), Raymond Cho (b. 1964), Hong Kong actor * Gary Chaw, Malaysian Chinese singer-songwriter based in Taiwan * Cao Yupeng (Chinese snooker player) * Cao Lu (b. 1987), Chinese singer, actress & former member of the K Pop girl group Fiestar * Tsao Chi-hung, 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 Mi-yeon, Cho Miyeon (b. 1997), Korean actress, dancer & main vocalist of the K-Pop girl group (G)I-dle, (G)I-DLE. Also plays as the voice & singer behind Ahri of K/DA (League of Legends, LoL) * Cao Ruyin, (1967 or 1968–2008), Chinese construction worker and deceased victim of a murder case in Singapore. His killer Kho Jabing, 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