The Kao surname

In the 2010 U.S. Census, 6,018 people carried this name — #5,758 among all U.S. surnames, about 1 in every 49,000 people counted. That is up 13% from 5,316 in 2000.

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In Argentina’s national register

At least 46 people named Kao 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.

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

Where they live today

City of Buenos Aires 25
Mendoza 11
Tucumán 10

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

In France’s civil register

France’s register of deaths holds 39 people named Kao.

Most of them — 30 — were born outside France. Those born in France came from 6 départements, most often Haute-Saône.

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

Where they were born

Born outside France 30
Haute-Saône 4
Hérault 1
Morbihan 1
Oise 1
Paris 1
Vaucluse 1

Fichier des personnes décédées, INSEE — Licence Ouverte 2.0 · deaths recorded in France since 1970, by place of birth.

In print

Kao in American newspapers,
1868–1929.

Newspaper page from Omnibus carrying the name Kao
Omnibus 1868-07-19
Newspaper page from New Britain Herald carrying the name Kao
New Britain Herald 1929-07-11

Chronicling America, Library of Congress — digitised newspapers in the public domain · 75,139 pages in all carry the name.

In print

Kao in Australian newspapers,
1840s–1990s.

1,048 articles name a Mr, Mrs or Miss Kao. The most, 258, date from the 1920s. Weighed against how much of each state’s press from the same decades has been digitised, it stands out most in Victoria, at 1.7 times its expected share.

Articles, by state

Victoria 394
New South Wales 299
Queensland 177
South Australia 62
Western Australia 57
Tasmania 34
ACT (Canberra) 16

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

Who carried it

People named Kao,
with a public archive behind them.

  • Charles K. Kao 1933–2018 · scientist
  • Charles K. Kao 1933–2018 · scientist
  • Pascal Chabi Kao 1935–2024 · politician

Wikidata (CC0) · 10 lives in all are documented under this name.

In the public record

People named Kao,
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 States118 records

118 records of the Kao name in the United States
  • U.S. alien registration index, 1940–1955 111
  • U.S. veterans' cemetery records, burials to 2001 3
  • New York State death index (outside NYC), 1957–2001 2
  • U.S. Army enlistment records, World War II 2
  1. A United States Selective Service registration card, 1942
    Example: U.S. registration card, 1942
    Military record /N Leon Kao

    Born 1910 in New York. Enlisted 1943 at Boston, Massachusetts; accountant from Middlesex County, Massachusetts.

    U.S. National Archives, WWII Army Enlistment Records (public domain)
  2. A U.S. Army record of death and interment, Camp Nelson, Kentucky, 1864
    Example: U.S. burial record, 1864
    Burial record Richard Lewis Kao

    U.S. Air Force veteran of the Vietnam War. Born 1935, died 2001; buried at Southern Wisconsin Veterans Memorial Cemetery, Union Grove, Wisconsin.

    U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Gravesite Locator (CC0)
  3. The receipt card sent under the U.S. Alien Registration Act of 1940
    Example: U.S. alien registration card, 1940s
    Alien registration Bow Kao

    Born 1884 in China. Registered as a foreign national in San Francisco, California, under the Alien Registration Act of 1940.

    U.S. National Archives, Flexoline Index Data File (public domain)

Showing 3 of 118 records for Kao in the United States.

Counts: U.S. National Archives, Flexoline Index Data File (public domain) · U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Gravesite Locator (CC0) · New York State Department of Health, Genealogical Research Death Index · U.S. National Archives, WWII Army Enlistment Records (public domain). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: U.S. Selective Service registration card, 1942 (public domain); Record of death and interment, Camp Nelson, Kentucky, 1864, U.S. National Archives (public domain); Alien Registration Receipt Card, Form AR-3, photo by Bobjgalindo via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 4.0).

France9 records

9 records of the Kao 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 Therese Elisabeth Kao

    Born 1944 in Belonchamp (Haute-Saône); died 2001 in Dijon (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 Ly Kao

    Born 1920 in Cambodia; died 2001 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 Tchoum Li Kao

    Born 1907 in China; died 1997 in Villejuif (Val-de-Marne).

    Insee, Fichier des personnes décédées (Licence Ouverte)

Showing 3 of 9 records for Kao in France.

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).

Netherlands3 records

3 records of the Kao name in the Netherlands
  • Dutch civil registers (births, marriages, deaths) 2
  • Dutch population registers 1
  1. A page of the Berlin civil register, 1880
    Example: civil register, 1880
    Death record Chok Chai Kao

    Died 1974 in Leeuwarden; born 1903 in Chekiang (China).

    Open Archives, AlleFriezen (CC BY 4.0)
  2. A page of the Berlin civil register, 1880
    Example: civil register, 1880
    Death record Anna Kao

    Died 1966 in 's-Gravenhage, aged 49.

    Open Archives, Haags Gemeentearchief (CC BY 4.0)
  3. A page of the 1910 United States census, Milwaukee
    Example: U.S. census, 1910
    Population register Tsou Tcheo Kao

    In the population register of 's-Gravenhage; born 1907 in Tchekiang.

    Open Archives, Haags Gemeentearchief (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); U.S. census of 1910, Milwaukee (public domain).

Finland1 record

1 record of the Kao name in Finland Finland's war dead, 1914–1922
  1. A page of the Livre d’or of the French war dead, Paris
    Example: roll of the war dead
    War record Frans Viktor Kao

    Born 1893; farm labourer. Died in 1918 in Helsinki, one of the dead of Finland's wars of 1914–1922.

    Kansallisarkisto, via Sotasurmasampo (CC BY 4.0)

Counts: Kansallisarkisto, via Sotasurmasampo (CC BY 4.0). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Livre d’or of the war dead, Paris, Ministère des pensions, Archives nationales (CC0).

Nearby in the index

Surnames next to Kao.

When the index is not enough

This page says where Kao 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.

See the Kao volume
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