Cao (Chinese surname)

For the Chinese surname Gao, written Cao in Vietnamese, see Cao (Vietnamese surname).
曹
RomanisationCáo / Tsao
Origin
Meaning
  1. plaintiff and defendant
  2. fodder
  3. division department of the central government in ancient times
  4. official
  5. group, team
Other names
Derivative(s)Cokro, Jasa, Laksamana, Sarana, Vonco (Indonesian)

Cáo is the pinyin romanization of the Chinese surname 曹 (Cáo). It is listed 26th in the Song-era Hundred Family Surnames poem. Cao is romanized as "Tsao" in Wade-Giles (Ts'ao), which is widely adopted in Taiwan, although the apostrophe is often omitted in practice. It is romanized "Cho", "Tso", and "Chaw" in Cantonese; "Chou", "Chô", and "Chow" in Hokkien; and "Chau", "Chow" in Teochew. It is romanized "Zau" or "Dzau" in Shanghainese.