The Cao surname
In the 2000 U.S. Census, 11,106 people carried this name — #2,986 among all U.S. surnames, about 1 in every 24,300 people counted.
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In Switzerland’s population statistics
334 people named Cao live in Switzerland.
They live in 16 of Switzerland’s 26 cantons, most of all in Zurich.
Where it concentrates, on the mapWhere they live today
Swiss Federal Statistical Office (FSO), «Surnames of the permanent resident population by canton», 2025, opendata.swiss · names with fewer than 3 bearers in a canton are not published.
In France’s civil register
France’s register of deaths holds 245 people named Cao.
Most of them — 176 — were born outside France. Those born in France came from 25 départements, most often Meuse.
Too few records to say where it concentrates region by region — these are plain counts, not shares.
Where they were born
Fichier des personnes décédées, INSEE — Licence Ouverte 2.0 · deaths recorded in France since 1970, by place of birth.
In Belgium’s population register
At least 126 people named Cao live in Belgium.
Statbel only publishes a name in a municipality when five or more people there share it, so the real number is higher. Most of them live in Liège.
Too few records to say where it concentrates region by region — these are plain counts, not shares.
Where they live today
Statbel (Statistics Belgium), family names of the population by municipality, 1 January 2026 — CC BY 4.0.
In Poland’s population register
52 people named Cao have a registered home in Poland.
Of the 517 in Poland’s national register, these are the ones with a permanent address on file. They live in 5 of Poland’s 16 voivodeships, most of all in Masovian.
Too few records to say where it concentrates region by region — these are plain counts, not shares.
Where they live today
PESEL register, Ministry of Digital Affairs of Poland (dane.gov.pl) — CC0 · living people by voivodeship of permanent residence, 20 January 2026.
In print
Cao in American newspapers,
1860–1963.
Chronicling America, Library of Congress — digitised newspapers in the public domain · 202,935 pages in all carry the name.
Who carried it
People named Cao,
with a public archive behind them.
-
Cao Wei 973–1030 · military personnel -
Cao Nai 1402–1449 · politician -
Cao Renhu 1731–1787 · politician -
Cao Shigui 1800–1848 -
Cao Hongxun 1848–1910 · politician
Wikidata and Wikimedia Commons (CC0) · 230 lives in all are documented under this name.
Nearby in the index
Surnames next to Cao.
- Cantrel 242 · U.S. census
- Cantrelle 637 · U.S. census
- Canty 7,769 · U.S. census
- Canu 139 · U.S. census
- Canuel 256 · U.S. census
- Canuto 308 · U.S. census
- Cap 856 · U.S. census
- Capaldi 921 · U.S. census
- Caparros 150 · U.S. census
- Capasso 2,183 · U.S. census
- Capdevila 143 · U.S. census
- Capdeville 205 · U.S. census
When the index is not enough
This page says where Cao is.
A volume says what happened to it.
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