Liao (廖)
A Taiwanese surname.
廖 Liao
- Zhuyin
- ㄌㄧㄠˋ
- Pinyin
- liào
- Wade-Giles
- Liao
- Further spellings of 廖
- Liau
- Taiwanese Hokkien (Tâi-lô)
- Liāu
- Hakka (Sixian)
- liau⁵⁵
- Rank in Taiwan
- 18th most common surname, roughly 1.35% of the population (2023 Ministry of the Interior figures)
What the character means
In MOE's Mandarin dictionary, 廖 is listed only as a surname.
Where the surname comes from
Tradition traces it to Shu'an (叔安), a descendant of Zhuanxu enfeoffed at Liao in present-day Henan, whose descendants took the name of the fief. Other accounts connect it with the small state of Liao (蓼). Hall name (堂號): 汝南堂.
Saying it 我姓廖 — wǒ xìng liào (ㄨㄛˇ ㄒㄧㄥˋ ㄌㄧㄠˋ), "my family name is 廖"
Sources: rank and share, 內政部 全國姓名統計分析 (Ministry of the Interior, National Name Statistics), data as of 2023-06-30. Taiwanese Hokkien readings, 教育部臺灣台語常用詞辭典 (MOE Dictionary of Frequently-Used Taiwanese Taigi), 百家姓 appendix. Hakka, 教育部臺灣客語辭典 (MOE Dictionary of Taiwan Hakka), 百家姓表, Sixian (四縣腔).