Rao (Chinese surname) explained

Rao
Pronunciation:	Mandarin: Ráo
Region:	modern day Shanxi and Jiangxi.
Language origin:	Chinese

Rao is a Chinese family name. It can also be spelled as "Yow" or "Yaw".

The surname Rao is approximately 2200 years old, and originated in the area near present-day Linfen county in Shanxi province.

It is the 181st most common name being shared by around 730,000 people or 0.055% of the population with the province with the most people being Jiangxi. It is on the Hundred Family Surnames poem.

Notable people

• Jao Tsung-I (1917–2018), Hong Kong Chinese calligrapher
• Ngeow Sze Chan (1915–2002), Malaysian practitioner of traditional Chinese medicine
• Rao Ching-ling (born 1969), magistrate of Taitung County
• Rao Shushi (1903–1975), senior member of the Chinese Communist Party
• Rao Yi (born 1962 in Jiangxi), neuroscientist
• Rao Yutai (1891–1968), physicist
• Yaw Shin Leong (1976-2023), Singaporean politician
• Nyu Kok Meng, Malaysian and convicted robber who committed armed robbery in Singapore.