# Zhao (surname)

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

A surname from Chinese.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Origin | Chinese |
| Type | not recorded |
| People in the US (2010 Census) | 22,301 |
| US rank (2010) | 1,613 of 162,253 |
| How often | about 1 in every 13,844 people |
| Change since 2000 | +116% (10,324 in 2000) |
| Pronunciation | /ʒaʊ/, 1 syllable |
| Variant spellings | Chao |

## Etymology

From the Hanyu Pinyin romanization of the Mandarin pronunciation of Chinese 趙 /赵 (Zhào), an ancient city name. Doublet of Trieu.

## Who carries it

Share of people named Zhao 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) | 1.0% |
| Black (not Hispanic) | 0.1% |
| Hispanic or Latino (any race) | 0.3% |
| Asian and Pacific Islander | 98% |
| American Indian and Alaska Native | 0.0% |
| Two or more races | 0.5% |

## Where

Wikidata records people named Zhao in Song dynasty, Zhao, the People's Republic of China and Taiwan.

## People named Zhao

- Zhao She, 3rd century BC Chinese Zhao state bureaucrat and general
- Zhao Lina, association football player
- Elaine Chao, 18th United States Secretary of Transportation and 24th United States Secretary of Labor
- Emperor Yingzong of Song, 5th Emperor of the Northern Song Dynasty
- Emperor Shenzong of Song, 6th emperor of the Northern Song Dynasty
- Emperor Zhezong of Song, 7th emperor of the Song Dynasty
- Emperor Taizong of Song, 2nd emperor of the Song Dynasty

## Similar surnames

Zhou, Zhu, Zou, Zia, Zeh, Zea, Zuo.

## 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.