How common is the surname Zhao?

22,301 people in the United States had the surname Zhao in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 13,844 Americans. It ranked 1,613th of 162,253 surnames.

Who is the most famous person named Zhao?

Zhao She, 3rd century BC Chinese Zhao state bureaucrat and general, followed by Zhao Lina.

Where is the surname Zhao most common?

Wikidata records people named Zhao in Song dynasty, Zhao and the People's Republic of China and 1 other country.

Is the surname Zhao getting more or less common?

More common. 10,324 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 22,301 in 2010, up 116%.

The surname Zhao

A Chinese surname, carried by 22,301 people in the United States.

Pronounced /ʒaʊ/ 1 syllable Soundex Z000

Every surname held by 100 or more people in the 2010 US Census, most common on the left (162,253 in all). Zhao is more common than 99% of them.

Origin

Chinese origin

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

One of 193 Chinese surnames on this site.

Origin from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0).

How common it is

2010 US Census

There were 22,301 people named Zhao in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 13,844 Americans. That is up 116% since 2000, when the Census counted 10,324.

#1,613

rank among US surnames

22,301

people in 2010

7.6

per 100,000 Americans

+116%

change since 2000 (was #3,187)

Rank	Surname	People	1 in
#1,604	Dunham	22,362	13,807
#1,605	Goode	22,356	13,810
#1,606	Kauffman	22,353	13,812
#1,607	Piper	22,329	13,827
#1,609	Cuellar	22,324	13,830
#1,610	Steward	22,318	13,834
#1,611	Winn	22,316	13,835

Who is named Zhao

Race and Hispanic origin as people reported it in the 2010 Census

98% of people named Zhao identified as Asian and Pacific Islander.

Asian and Pacific Islander 98%
White (not Hispanic) 1.0%
Two or more races 0.5%
Hispanic or Latino (any race) 0.3%
Black (not Hispanic) 0.1%
American Indian and Alaska Native 0.0%

Compare: most common surnames among Asian and Pacific Islander Americans.

Famous Zhaos

7 notable people on Wikidata, most written-about first

Zhao She
3rd century BC Chinese Zhao state bureaucrat and general, -1–-201
Zhao Lina
Association football player, born 1991
Elaine Chao
18th United States Secretary of Transportation and 24th United States Secretary of Labor, born 1953
Emperor Yingzong of Song
5th Emperor of the Northern Song Dynasty, 1032–1067
Emperor Shenzong of Song
6th emperor of the Northern Song Dynasty, 1048–1085
Emperor Zhezong of Song
7th emperor of the Song Dynasty, 1077–1100
Emperor Taizong of Song
2nd emperor of the Song Dynasty, 939–997

Notable Zhaos come mostly from Song dynasty (4), Zhao (1) and the People's Republic of China (1).

Spellings and sound-alikes

Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling

Variant spellings

Chao

Surnames that sound like Zhao

Zhou

Zhao has the Soundex code Z000, the code US census indexes have used since the 1930s. Every surname with code Z000.

Other Chinese surnames

All 193 Chinese surnames

Questions

Where does the surname Zhao come from?: From the Hanyu Pinyin romanization of the Mandarin pronunciation of Chinese 趙 /赵 (Zhào), an ancient city name. Doublet of Trieu.
How common is the surname Zhao?: 22,301 people in the United States had the surname Zhao in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 13,844 Americans. It ranked 1,613th of 162,253 surnames.
What ethnicity is the surname Zhao?: In the 2010 Census, 98% of people named Zhao identified as Asian and Pacific Islander, and 1.0% as white (not Hispanic).
Who is the most famous person named Zhao?: Zhao She, 3rd century BC Chinese Zhao state bureaucrat and general, followed by Zhao Lina.
Where is the surname Zhao most common?: Wikidata records people named Zhao in Song dynasty, Zhao and the People's Republic of China and 1 other country.
How do you pronounce Zhao?: Zhao is /ʒaʊ/, one syllable.
Is the surname Zhao getting more or less common?: More common. 10,324 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 22,301 in 2010, up 116%.
What are other spellings of Zhao?: Chao.