Xiao (surname)

Xiao / Hsiao
Xiao surname in regular script
PronunciationXiāo (Pinyin)
Siau, Sio (Pe̍h-ōe-jī)
Language(s)Chinese, Vietnamese, Korean
Origin
Language(s)Old Chinese
Word/nameXiao County, Anhui
DerivationState of Xiao (萧国)
Other names
Variant form(s)Xiao, Hsiao (Mandarin)
Siu, Shiu, Siew (Cantonese, Hakka)
Siow, Sio, Siaw, Seow (Hokkien, Foochow, Hainan, Teochew)
Tiêu (Vietnamese)
The ancestral hall of the Xiao clan (蕭氏宗祠) in Yangxin County, Hubei

Xiao (/ʃaʊ/;[1] Chinese: 蕭) is a Chinese-language surname. In the Wade-Giles system of romanization, it is rendered as Hsiao, which is commonly used in Taiwan. It is also romanized as Siauw, Shiao, Siaw, Siew, Siow, Seow, Siu, Shiu or Sui,[2] as well as "Shaw" in less common situations, inspired by the transliteration of the surname of notable figures such as Irish playwright George Bernard Shaw and English actor Robert Shaw. It is the 99th name on the Hundred Family Surnames poem.[3]

After the demise of the Qing dynasty, some of the descendants of Manchu clan Šumuru sinicized their clan name to the Chinese surnames Shu (舒), Xu (徐) or Xiao (蕭).[4]

A 1977 study found that it was the 20th most common Chinese surname in the world. It is said to be the 30th most common in China.[5] In 2019 it was the 33rd most common surname in Mainland China.[6]

  1. ^ "Xiao Hinggan Ling". Collins English Dictionary.
  2. ^ "那些年，我們叫錯的設計師". Daily Cold. July 30, 2016. Retrieved September 15, 2016. 之所以會跟我們比較熟悉的 Xiao 或是 Hsiao 不同，是因為...廣東裔，所以 Sui 是把蕭的粵語發音直接拼音字母化而來。
  3. ^ K. S. Tom. [1989] (1989). Echoes from Old China: Life, Legends and Lore of the Middle Kingdom. University of Hawaii Press. ISBN 0-8248-1285-9.
  4. ^ Zhao, Erxun (1928). Draft History of Qing (Qing Shi Gao) (in Chinese).
  5. ^ Origin of Xiao, Siu, Siew, Seow, Hsiao, yutopian.com. Retrieved 2009-09-23.
  6. ^ "新京报 - 好新闻，无止境".