Gao (Chinese: 高) is an East Asian surname of Chinese origin that can be literally translated as "high" or "tall". There are approximately 17 million living people with this surname. Some places, such as Taiwan, usually romanise this family name into "Kao". In Hong Kong, it is romanized to "Ko". In Macau, it is romanized to "Kou". In English, it is romanized to "Kauh". In 2019 it was the 19th most common surname in Mainland China.[1] The Korean surname, "Ko" or "Koh", is derived from and written with the same Chinese character (高).
According to Lüshi Chunqiu, the earliest figure with the Gao surname was Gao Yuan (高元) who created dwellings in antiquity.[2]Zhuanxu, the grandson of the Yellow Emperor, was also known as Gao Yang (高陽).
Another origin of Gao is the Jiang (姜) surname. According to the Song dynasty encyclopedia Tongzhi, an early ancestor was Gao Xi (高傒) who was granted the surname Gao in honour of his grandfather Prince Gao (公子高).[3] Prince Gao was the son of Duke Wen of the state of Qi whose ancestral name was Jiang (姜).[4]
Many non-Han Chinese used the surname Gao:
The Xianbei clan of Lou (楼) of the Northern Wei period later changed their surname to Gao. The Yuan (元) family also adopted this surname in this period
Gao Qingchen, also known as Nine. Thai actor and singer of Chinese descent, member of the multi-national Chinese group INTO1, a debuted boy group of Produce Camp 2021
Henry Kao (1913-2005), former mayor of Taipei, minister and senior advisor to the president of the Republic of China (Taiwan). First Taiwanese to receive an honorary doctorate from Waseda University, Japan.
^Breuker, Remco. (2014). Establishing a Pluralist Society in Medieval Korea, 918-1170: History, Ideology, and Identity in the Koryŏ Dynasty. Brill. ISBN9789004190122. OCLC1049569237.
This page lists people with the surnameGao. If an internal link intending to refer to a specific person led you to this page, you may wish to change that link by adding the person's given name(s) to the link.