# Rao (surname)

Source: https://namelineage.com/surname/rao/  
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 | place, taken from where an ancestor lived or came from |
| People in the US (2010 Census) | 11,672 |
| US rank (2010) | 3,075 of 162,253 |
| How often | about 1 in every 26,452 people |
| Change since 2000 | +39% (8,423 in 2000) |
| Pronunciation | not recorded |
| Variant spellings | none recorded |

## Etymology

* As an Italian surname, reduced from Radulfo. See Rolf, Ralph, Raul, etc. * As an Indian surname, from Marathi राव (rāv), Gujarati રાવ (rāv), Telugu రావు (rāvu), etc.; all ultimately from Sanskrit राजन् (rājan, “king”). * As a Chinese surname, from the place name 饒 /饶 (ráo). More at Rao.

## Who carries it

Share of people named Rao 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) | 17% |
| Black (not Hispanic) | 0.3% |
| Hispanic or Latino (any race) | 1.1% |
| Asian and Pacific Islander | 79% |
| American Indian and Alaska Native | 0.2% |
| Two or more races | 2.9% |

## Where

Wikidata records people named Rao in the United States.

## People named Rao

- Dileep Rao, American actor
- Gitanjali Rao, American inventor

## Similar surnames

Ray, Rau, Rae, Rai, Ra, Raw, Rayo, Rowe, Roy, Roe, Rea, Rey.

## 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.