Zhao (surname)

Zhao / Chao / Chiu / Triệu
Pronunciation
Language(s)Chinese
Origin
MeaningName of a feudal state during the Zhou dynasty
Other names
Variant form(s)
  • Chao
  • Cantonese: Jew, Chew, Chiu, Chu, Jew, Jue, Siu, Tsiu
  • Shanghainese: Zau
Derivative(s)Cho, Triệu
Zhao
"Zhao" in seal script (top), Traditional (middle), and Simplified (bottom) Chinese characters
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese
Simplified Chinese
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu PinyinZhào
Wade–GilesChao4
IPA[ʈʂâʊ]
Wu
SuzhouneseZâu
Yue: Cantonese
Yale RomanizationJiuh
JyutpingZiu6
Southern Min
Tâi-lôTiō
Middle Chinese
Middle Chineseɖjéu
Old Chinese
Baxter–Sagart (2014)*[d]rewʔ
Vietnamese name
Vietnamese alphabetTriệu
Korean name
Hangul
Transcriptions
Revised RomanizationJo

Zhao (//; traditional Chinese: ; simplified Chinese: ; pinyin: Zhào; Wade–Giles: Chao⁴) is a Chinese-language surname. The name is first in the Hundred Family Surnames – the traditional list of all Chinese surnames – because it was the emperor's surname of the Song dynasty (960–1279) when the list was compiled. The first line of the poem is 趙錢孫李 (Zhao, Qian, Sun, Li).

Zhao may be romanized as "Chiu" from the Cantonese pronunciation, and is romanized in Taiwan and Hong Kong as "Chao" in the Wade–Giles system. It is romanized as Vietnamese family name "Triệu" among the Chinese diaspora in Vietnam. Zhao is cognate to Korean family name "Cho" (조) in Korea.

The romanization is shared with the much rarer family name Zhào (兆).