The Yao surname
In the 2010 U.S. Census, 7,192 people carried this name — #4,898 among all U.S. surnames, about 1 in every 41,000 people counted. That is up 57% from 4,592 in 2000.
Where the name comes from
The origin of the Yao surname
A Chinese surname from Hokkien.
From various romanizations of the Mandarin and Hokkien pronunciations of Chinese 姚 (Yáo/Iâu).
From Wiktionary, the free dictionary (en.wiktionary.org) — entry «Yao» (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 440 people named Yao 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 Yao 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/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 132 people named Yao.
Most of them — 100 — were born outside France. Those born in France came from 13 départements, most often French Polynesia.
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 94 people named Yao 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 the Nordic population registers
196 people named Yao 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
Yao in American newspapers,
1896–1942.
Chronicling America, Library of Congress — digitised newspapers in the public domain · 22,409 pages in all carry the name.
Who carried it
People named Yao,
with a public archive behind them.
-
Shun -229–-218 -
Yao Shan 1359– · politician -
Yao Mo 1465–1537 · politician -
Yao Wentian 1758–1827 · politician -
Yao Yuan-chih 1773–1852 · politician
Wikidata and Wikimedia Commons (CC0) · 262 lives in all are documented under this name.
Nearby in the index
Surnames next to Yao.
When the index is not enough
This page says where Yao 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.