Gaw is a surname with at least four different origins. First, it may be derived from the Gaelic word meaning "foreigner" or "stranger". The surnames Gall and Gaul are derived from the same word. In Brittany it became a surname for immigrants from France, in Lincolnshire for Bretons, in Perthshire and Aberdeen for Lowlanders.[1] Second, it may have originated by shortening the name McGaw, which is an Anglicised form of Gaelic; Scottish Gaelic: Mag Ádaimh meaning "son of Adam". Third, it may be an old spelling of the German surname Gau, which originated as a toponymic surname; see Gau (territory).[2] Finally, it may be an Anglicisation of the Southern Min pronunciation of the Chinese surname pronounced Wú in Mandarin; this spelling came into use in Hong Kong by a family of Chinese immigrants from Myanmar.[3] [4]
The surname is relatively rare. There were 334 people on the island of Great Britain and 174 on the island of Ireland with the surname Gaw as of 2011, according to statistics cited by Patrick Hanks.[5]
People with the surname include: