Xiao (surname)

Xiao
Xiao surname in regular script
Pronunciation	Xiāo (Pinyin) Siau, Sio (Pe̍h-ōe-jī)
Language(s)	Chinese, Vietnamese, Korean
Origin
Language(s)	Old Chinese
Word/Name	Xiao County, Anhui
Derivation	State of Xiao (萧国)
Other names
Variant(s)	Xiao, Hsiao (Mandarin) Siu, Siow, Seow (Cantonese) Siao, Sio, Siaw (Hokkien) Tiêu (Vietnamese)

Xiao (simplified Chinese: 萧/肖; traditional Chinese: 蕭) is a Chinese surname. In the Wade-Giles system of romanization, it is rendered as Hsiao. It may also be romanized as Siauw, Sjauw, Siaw, Siew, Siow, Seow, Siu or Sui.

A 1977 study found that it was the 20th most common Chinese surname in the world. It is said to be the 30th most common in China.

The Xiao surname originated from Xiao County in Anhui province, China. In the state of Song during the Spring and Autumn period of ancient China, the nobleman Daxin () was enfeoffed at Xiao, which became an attached state of Song. The people of Xiao later adopted the name of their state as their surname. Centuries later, Xiao He was the first prime minister of the Han dynasty. Later on, his descendant Xiao Biao (萧彪) moved to Lanling (兰陵), now Yicheng in Shandong province, due to political problems during the reign of Emperor Wu of Han. The Xiao people therefore also trace their origin to Lanling, and sometimes they are called Lanling Xiao (“兰陵萧”).

Another mass movement of Xiao people came during the Disaster of Yongjia at the end of the Western Jin dynasty, when Xiao Zheng (萧整) moved to Danyang, Jiangsu. It was also called South Lanling (南兰陵). The descendants of Danyang Xiao (丹阳萧氏) later founded two dynasties: Xiao Daocheng was the founding emperor of the Southern Qi dynasty, and Xiao Yan founded the Southern Liang dynasty.