# Cao (surname)

Source: https://namelineage.com/surname/cao/  
Publisher: Name Lineage. Counts from the US Census Bureau; origin and etymology from Wiktionary; bearers from Wikidata. Data updated 2026-11-11.

A surname.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Origin | not recorded |
| Type | not recorded |
| People in the US (2010 Census) | 18,138 |
| US rank (2010) | 1,989 of 162,253 |
| How often | about 1 in every 17,022 people |
| Change since 2000 | +63% (11,106 in 2000) |
| Pronunciation | not recorded |
| Variant spellings | none recorded |

## Etymology

From the pinyin romanization of Mandarin 曹 (Cáo).

## Who carries it

Share of people named Cao in the 2010 US Census by the Census's own race and ethnicity groups. The Census suppresses a share when the count behind it is small.

| Group | Share |
|---|---|
| White (not Hispanic) | 1.4% |
| Hispanic or Latino (any race) | 2.1% |
| Asian and Pacific Islander | 95% |
| Two or more races | 1.1% |

## Where

Wikidata records people named Cao in Eastern Wu, Cao Wei and the United States.

## People named Cao

- Cao Buxing, 3rd century Eastern Wu artist
- Cao Teng, 2nd century Eastern Han dynasty eunuch official
- Hung Cao, American politician and Navy veteran (born 1971)

## Similar surnames

Cai, Chao, Cayo, Choi, Cho, Chu, Coe, Chow, Chau, Coy, Chiu, Chou.

## How to read these numbers

A Census count is people alive and counted in 2010, not births, and names occurring fewer than 100 times are not published at all. Ethnicity shares are the Census's own categories.