Siao

surname · Latin script

Recorded for both men and women· direction only, no split published

Siao is a surname written in the Latin script, with more bearers in the Philippines than in any other country. Recorded meaning: Mad; crazy.

rarermore common
  • PHPhilippines≈1 in 45K(inferred from the name graph)
  • USUnited States1 in 1.1M
  • TZTanzania≈1 in 38K

carrying the name, as counted by its national register where one exists and as Mondonomo estimates it elsewhere (marked ≈ and "est." on hover). One hue, darker where it is more common; hover a country for its figure.

Philippines (inferred from the name graph)

≈2,400 people, est.

Sources
152 (measured from records)

Highest-authority source

≈1 in 38K (inferred from the name graph)

Tanzania, est.

measured from records inferred from the name graph

Name dossier (print, CSV)

Meaning & origin(measured from records)

Mad; crazy

Sources 1

  • kaikki.org Wiktionary extract (IPA + transliterations)

Attested across 8 languages in the etymology graph.

Where in the world(measured from records)

Siao counted together with the spellings and other-language forms grouped with it. Where a register counted another spelling, the row names it.

Sorted by bearers: national registers' counts, and Mondonomo's estimates (≈, est.) where no register counts.

Where Siao is recorded, by country
CountryMost common spellingSources
PH Philippines≈2,400 est.≈1 in 45K—Siao56
TZ Tanzania≈1,600 est.≈1 in 38K—Siao7
MY Malaysia≈680 est.≈1 in 48K—Siao27
BR Brazil3661 in 578K366—1
US United States3111 in 1.1M320Siao152
SG Singapore≈66 est.≈1 in 94K—Siao27
HK Hong Kong≈52 est.≈1 in 138K—Siao6

Exact figures are national registers' own counts, while figures marked ≈ and est. are Mondonomo’s estimates, counted from our sources and calibrated against those registers; hover one for how far to trust it in that country. A dash means neither exists.

Registers cited: Census Bureau — Surname Frequency 2010; Census Bureau — Surname Frequency 2020; IBGE — Censo 2022 Nomes no Brasil per-token lookup (v3 API, given+surname). Figures without a register are Mondonomo estimates; see Methodology.

Country figures for a list of names, at full precision, are available under licence rather than by scraping this table (how that works).

Other names spelled this way(inferred from the name graph)

Siao is also recorded as 3 other names, grouped separately because the records behind them do not connect to the one described above.

  • Spanish surname3 spellings in the group

    Most recorded in Philippines, Brazil, United States, Colombia

    Languages: Spanish, Portuguese

    Also written Sião

  • French surname2 spellings in the group

    Most recorded in France, Philippines, United States

    Also written Sião

  • Thai surname21 spellings in the group

    Most recorded in Thailand, China, United States, Malaysia

    Languages: Thai, Lao

    Also written Xiao, เซียว, เสียว, เสี้ยว, เสี่ยว

41 further groups record this spelling and are not listed here.

Grouping is the name graph's, not a register's: two spellings join a group when the evidence links them, so a group is a claim about the records rather than about the people.

Other recorded senses(measured from records)

Siao is also recorded in 4 other lexicons, as a different name or as an ordinary word. These are senses of the spelling, not of the name above.

  • In Filipino, a Chinese Filipino surname from Hokkien

    as a wordkaikki.org Wiktionary extract (IPA + transliterations)

  • In Cebuano, a surname from Hokkien

    as a wordkaikki.org Wiktionary extract (IPA + transliterations)

  • In mzs, soy sauce

    as a wordkaikki.org Wiktionary extract (IPA + transliterations)

  • In mrw, nine

    as a wordkaikki.org Wiktionary extract (IPA + transliterations)

Ordered by how much of this spelling's record each language holds, so a sense from a language the name is barely used in sits last rather than first.

Notable people with this name(measured from records)

05001000150020002500Xiao Zhangmao, b. 458Josephine Siao, b. 1947Anna Sui, b. 1964Edwin Siu, b. 1977Elva Hsiao, b. 1979Jona Xiao, b. 1989Xiao Zhan, b. 1991Xiao Ruoteng, b. 1996Xiao Jiaruixuan, b. 2002
  • Xiao Zhangmaob. 458not in their usual nameLiu Song Dynasty crown prince
  • Josephine Siaob. 1947CNHong Kong actress
  • Anna Suib. 1964USnot in their usual nameAmerican fashion designer (born 1964)
  • Edwin Siub. 1977CNnot in their usual nameHong Kong actor and singer
  • Elva Hsiaob. 1979TWnot in their usual nameTaiwanese singer (born 1979)
  • Jona Xiaob. 1989CNnot in their usual nameChinese actress
  • Xiao Zhanb. 1991CNnot in their usual nameChinese actor and singer
  • Xiao Ruotengb. 1996CNnot in their usual nameChinese artistic gymnast (1996-)
  • Xiao Jiaruixuanb. 2002CNnot in their usual nameChinese sport shooter
  • Rita HsiaoUSnot in their usual nameAmerican screenwriter

The ten people covered by the most Wikipedia language editions — a proxy for cross-cultural notability, which favours historical and Western figures over equally prominent contemporary ones — shown by birth year. Source: Wikidata (CC0).

Evidence(measured from records)

Attested in 17 sources across 9 countries.

Official registers attesting Siao
CountryRegisterYearCountRank
BR BrazilIBGE — Censo 2022 Nomes no Brasil per-token lookup (v3 API, given+surname)—366#22,394
US United StatesCensus Bureau — Surname Frequency 20202020320#66,670
US United StatesCensus Bureau — Surname Frequency 20102010311#64,054
US United StatesCensus Bureau — Surname Frequency 20002000206#84,631
US United Stateswru Name Dictionary — US surnames, Census 2010 subset (Khanna et al.)———

Reference works 2

  • Nederlandse FamilienamenBank (Dutch surname bank; ex-Meertens Instituut, now CBG)2007
  • Wikidata name items (native-script + romanized given/family names)

These works list the name; their figures are licensed and are not reproduced here.

Register rows as of the 2026-10-09 data build.

Frequently asked questions

What does the name Siao mean, and where does it come from?
Mad; crazy Recorded by kaikki.org Wiktionary extract (IPA + transliterations).
In which country does Siao have the most bearers?
Mondonomo estimates about 2.4 thousand people named Siao in the Philippines, more than in any other country we hold, where it is most often spelled siao.
How common is the name Siao?
In Brazil, the national register counted 366 people named Siao, about 1 in 578 thousand residents.

What do you want to know about Siao?

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Query this name via API
curl https://api.mondonomo.ai/api/v1/name-graph/siao

The same payload this page is built from: spellings and scripts, countries and languages, related names, and the registers that attest the form. Rate-limited for casual use; a free API key gives 1,000 requests a day, and bulk access is licensed separately.

About this data

measured from records inferred from the name graph machine-generated

These figures come from the data snapshot of and will change as it is rebuilt.

Statistics are aggregated from the Mondonomo name corpus; related names and etymology are inferred from the name graph; pronunciation and any machine-marked transliterations are model-generated. Read how the numbers are made, including their known failure modes, and where the data comes from.

Reference works we consult — surname dictionaries, official name registers, Wikidata and Wiktionary — are named directly, beside the claims they support. The per-country source counts also include datasets of person records: we publish how many there are and their authority tier, but not their names.

Cite this page Mondonomo, “Siao”. Data snapshot 2026-10-10.

See how Siao parses inside a full name →