The Rao surname
In the 2010 U.S. Census, 11,672 people carried this name — #3,075 among all U.S. surnames, about 1 in every 25,300 people counted. That is up 39% from 8,423 in 2000.
In Argentina’s national register
At least 686 people named Rao 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 Buenos Aires Province.
Where it concentrates, on the mapWhere they live today
RENAPER (National Registry of Persons, Argentina), surnames of residents by province, December 2021 — CC BY 4.0.
In Switzerland’s population statistics
261 people named Rao live in Switzerland.
They live in 15 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/en/dataset/nachnamen-der-standigen-wohnbevolkerung-nach-kanton3 · names with fewer than 3 bearers in a canton are not published.
In France’s civil register
France’s register of deaths holds 76 people named Rao.
Most of them — 48 — were born outside France. Those born in France came from 10 départements, most often Corsica.
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 the Nordic population registers
105 people named Rao is counted in Sweden.
Sweden’s figure is from 31 December 2022, the last count Statistics Sweden published.
Counted, by country
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
Rao in American newspapers,
1898–1963.
Chronicling America, Library of Congress — digitised newspapers in the public domain · 241,818 pages in all carry the name.
Who carried it
People named Rao,
with a public archive behind them.
-
Rao Yutai 1891–1968 · physicist -
Vicente Rao 1892–1978 · teacher -
Rao Guohua 1894–1937 · military personnel -
Burgula Ramakrishna Rao 1899–1967 · politician -
Rao Shushi 1903–1975 · politician
Wikidata and Wikimedia Commons (CC0) · 251 lives in all are documented under this name.
Nearby in the index
Surnames next to Rao.
- Ranger 2,504 · U.S. census
- Ranieri 2,837 · U.S. census
- Rano 206 · U.S. census
- Ranson 3,138 · U.S. census
- Rantz 723 · U.S. census
- Ranucci 346 · U.S. census
- Raoul 137 · U.S. census
- Rapetti 109 · U.S. census
- Raphael 4,366 · U.S. census
- Raphel 191 · U.S. census
- Rapin 270 · U.S. census
- Rapoport 1,286 · U.S. census
When the index is not enough
This page says where Rao 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.