The Cho surname

In the 2010 U.S. Census, 33,490 people carried this name — #1,038 among all U.S. surnames, about 1 in every 8,810 people counted. That is up 32% from 25,305 in 2000.

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Where the name comes from

The origin of the Cho surname

From Korean 조(趙) (Jo) and 조(曺) (Jo), or Cantonese 曹 (cou4).

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary (en.wiktionary.org) — entry «Cho» (English), by Wiktionary contributors · licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0) · excerpt, lightly adapted.

In Argentina’s national register

At least 459 people named Cho live in Argentina.

RENAPER only publishes a name in a province when more than ten people there share it, so the real number is higher. Most of them live in City of Buenos Aires.

Where it concentrates, on the map

Where they live today

City of Buenos Aires 421
Buenos Aires Province 38

RENAPER (National Registry of Persons, Argentina), surnames of residents by province, December 2021 — CC BY 4.0.

In Switzerland’s population statistics

104 people named Cho live in Switzerland.

They live in 7 of Switzerland’s 26 cantons, most of all in Zurich.

Too few records to say where it concentrates region by region — these are plain counts, not shares.

Where they live today

Zurich 44
Geneva 21
Vaud 14
Aargau 10
Bern 8
Basel-Stadt 4
Basel-Landschaft 3

Swiss Federal Statistical Office (FSO), «Surnames of the permanent resident population by canton», 2025, opendata.swiss/en/dataset/nachnamen-der-standigen-wohnbevolkerung-nach-kanton3 · names with fewer than 3 bearers in a canton are not published.

In the Nordic population registers

101 people named Cho is counted in Sweden.

Sweden’s figure is from 31 December 2022, the last count Statistics Sweden published.

Counted, by country

Sweden (2022) 101

Own calculations based on data from Statistics Sweden (SCB), surnames with at least two bearers, 31 December 2022 — CC BY 4.0 (names with 20 or more bearers shown).

In print

Cho in American newspapers,
1916–1921.

Newspaper page from Evening Star carrying the name Cho
Evening Star 1916-12-17
Newspaper page from New-york Tribune carrying the name Cho
New-york Tribune 1921-10-29

Chronicling America, Library of Congress — digitised newspapers in the public domain · 537 pages in all carry the name.

In print

Cho in Australian newspapers,
1840s–1990s.

2,338 articles name a Mr, Mrs or Miss Cho. The most, 392, date from the 1910s. New South Wales has the most articles, but weighed against how much of each state’s press from the same decades has been digitised, the name stands out most in the Australian Capital Territory, at 1.4 times its expected share.

Articles, by state

New South Wales 706
Victoria 624
Queensland 494
South Australia 190
Tasmania 132
Western Australia 117
ACT (Canberra) 56

Trove, National Library of Australia (trove.nla.gov.au) · articles in its digitised newspapers that name a Mr, Mrs or Miss Cho.

Who carried it

People named Cho,
with a public archive behind them.

  • Cho Hŏn
    Cho Hŏn 1544–1592 · writer
  • Jo Tae-eok
    Jo Tae-eok 1675–1728 · politician
  • Jo Dong-hee
    Jo Dong-hee 1856–1934 · civil servant
  • Cho Min-hui
    Cho Min-hui 1859–1931 · civilian official
  • Cho Wan-gu
    Cho Wan-gu 1881–1954 · civil servant

Wikidata (CC0) · portraits via Wikimedia Commons, shown cropped — Cho Hŏn: Christophe95, CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0); Jo Tae-eok: Kanō Tsunenobu, KOGL Type 1 (www.kogl.or.kr/info/licenseType1.do); the others are in the public domain or CC0 · 198 lives in all are documented under this name.

In the public record

People named Cho,
in the records of 4 countries.

Soldiers, farmers, migrants and neighbours who carried the name and left a trace in public archives. Everyone shown here died long ago or was born more than a century ago.

United States263 records

263 records of the Cho name in the United States
  • U.S. alien registration index, 1940–1955 196
  • U.S. Army enlistment records, World War II 40
  • U.S. veterans' cemetery records, burials to 2001 15
  • New York City birth, marriage and death certificates 7
  • New York State death index (outside NYC), 1957–2001 2
  • Sacramento County historic burials 2
  • U.S. service members who died in the Vietnam War 1
  1. Names engraved on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, Washington, D.C.
    Example: U.S. war memorial
    War record Herbert Pok Dong Cho

    Born 1944; from Lynwood, California. U.S. Army, infantryman; killed in action 1968 in Dinh Tuong, South Vietnam. Buried at National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, Honolulu, Hawaii.

    U.S. National Archives, Defense Casualty Analysis System (public domain); U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Gravesite Locator (CC0)
  2. A United States Selective Service registration card, 1942
    Example: U.S. registration card, 1942
    Military record Lew Cho

    Born 1905 in California. Enlisted 1942 at Fort Jay Governors Island, New York; stock clerk. U.S. Army veteran of World War II; died 1977, buried at Long Island National Cemetery, New York.

    U.S. National Archives, WWII Army Enlistment Records (public domain); U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Gravesite Locator (CC0)
  3. A U.S. Army record of death and interment, Camp Nelson, Kentucky, 1864
    Example: U.S. burial record, 1864
    Burial record Sung Whan Cho

    U.S. Army veteran of World War I. Born 1887, died 1949; buried at National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, Honolulu, Hawaii.

    U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Gravesite Locator (CC0)

Showing 3 of 263 records for Cho in the United States.

Counts: U.S. National Archives, Flexoline Index Data File (public domain) · U.S. National Archives, WWII Army Enlistment Records (public domain) · U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Gravesite Locator (CC0) · NYC Department of Records & Information Services, Historical Vital Records (NYC Open Data) · New York State Department of Health, Genealogical Research Death Index · Sacramento County, Historic Burials (CC BY 4.0) · U.S. National Archives, Defense Casualty Analysis System (public domain). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Vietnam Veterans Memorial, photo by U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Michael J. Carden, 2009 (public domain); U.S. Selective Service registration card, 1942 (public domain); Record of death and interment, Camp Nelson, Kentucky, 1864, U.S. National Archives (public domain).

Canada12 records

12 records of the Cho name in Canada
  • Mountain View Cemetery, Vancouver 7
  • City of Calgary cemetery records 4
  • City of Niagara Falls (Ontario) cemetery records 1
  1. Fairview Lawn Cemetery in Halifax, Nova Scotia
    Example: Canadian cemetery
    Burial record Isabell Poksik Cho

    Buried in 1996 at Queen's Park Cemetery, Calgary, Alberta, aged 19.

    City of Calgary. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – City of Calgary.
  2. Fairview Lawn Cemetery in Halifax, Nova Scotia
    Example: Canadian cemetery
    Burial record Kai Chung Cho

    Died 1947; buried at Mountain View Cemetery, Vancouver, British Columbia.

    City of Vancouver. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Vancouver.
  3. Fairview Lawn Cemetery in Halifax, Nova Scotia
    Example: Canadian cemetery
    Burial record Chew Cho

    Buried in 1922 at Fairview Cemetery, Niagara Falls, Ontario.

    City of Niagara Falls. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Niagara Falls.

Showing 3 of 12 records for Cho in Canada.

Counts: City of Vancouver. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Vancouver. · City of Calgary. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – City of Calgary. · City of Niagara Falls. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Niagara Falls. Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Fairview Lawn Cemetery, Halifax, photo by Edgar El (CC BY 3.0).

France3 records

3 records of the Cho name in France France's national death register, 1970–2001
  1. A page of the death register of Nice, 1930
    Example: French death register, 1930
    Death record Hong Suk Cho

    Born 1973 in Seoul (Corée du Sud); died 2000 in Meilly-sur-Rouvres (Côte-d'Or).

    Insee, Fichier des personnes décédées (Licence Ouverte)
  2. A page of the death register of Nice, 1930
    Example: French death register, 1930
    Death record Saythong Cho

    Born 1921 in Laos; died 1998 in Paris.

    Insee, Fichier des personnes décédées (Licence Ouverte)
  3. A page of the death register of Nice, 1930
    Example: French death register, 1930
    Death record Heike Cho

    Born 1969 in Germany; died 1992 in Amiens (Somme).

    Insee, Fichier des personnes décédées (Licence Ouverte)

Counts: Insee, Fichier des personnes décédées (Licence Ouverte). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Death register of Nice, 1930, Archives départementales des Alpes-Maritimes (public domain).

Netherlands2 records

2 records of the Cho name in the Netherlands Dutch civil registers (births, marriages, deaths)
  1. A page of the Berlin civil register, 1880
    Example: civil register, 1880
    Death record Chan Cho

    Died 1931 in Rotterdam, aged 30.

    Open Archives, Stadsarchief Rotterdam (CC BY 4.0)
  2. A page of the Berlin civil register, 1880
    Example: civil register, 1880
    Death record Ah Chok Cho

    Died 1941 in Rotterdam, aged 35.

    Open Archives, Stadsarchief Rotterdam (CC BY 4.0)

Counts: Open Archives (CC BY 4.0). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Civil register, Berlin, 1880, Landesarchiv Berlin (CC0).

Nearby in the index

Surnames next to Cho.

When the index is not enough

This page says where Cho is.
A volume says what happened to it.

Every page in the index is free and stays free. The Heritage Volume is the long form: the full paper trail, the arms, the crossing — bound, and yours.

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