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| Pronunciation | Mò (Mandarin) Mok6 (Cantonese) |
|---|---|
| Origin | |
| Meaning | do not |
| Region of origin | China |
Mo (莫) is the pinyin romanization of the surname pronounced in Standard Chinese as "Mò" and in Cantonese as "Mok6". The surname is often romanized as Mok where Cantonese speakers are prominent. According to a study of Mu Ying's Name record, the surname came to be when descendants of the antediluvian ruler Zhuanxu abbreviated the name of his city, Moyangcheng (莫陽城) and took it as their surname.
As Chinese family names go, Mo is relatively rare, ranked 168th in the Hundred Family Surnames. In 2004, there were an estimated 73,000 people with the surname of Mo abroad and 1,540,000 Mos in China.
When not used as a surname, 'Mo' (莫) means 'do not'.