Xiao

given name · Latin script

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

Xiao is a given name written in the Latin script, with more bearers in China than in any other country. In Chinese, recorded as nonstandard spelling of xiāo.

rarermore common
  • CNChina≈1 in 1.2K(inferred from the name graph)
  • SGSingapore≈1 in 3K
  • MYMalaysia≈1 in 3.1K

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.

China (inferred from the name graph)

≈1,100,000 people, est.

Sources
311 (measured from records)

Highest-authority source

≈1 in 1.2K (inferred from the name graph)

China, est.

measured from records inferred from the name graph

Name dossier (print, CSV)

Meaning & origin(measured from records)

nonstandard spelling of xiāo

Sources 1

  • kaikki.org Wiktionary extract (IPA + transliterations)

Attested across 11 languages in the etymology graph.

How Xiao is read(measured from records)

Xiao is one spelling over 2 language communities, and the dictionaries record it differently in 2 of them. Each row is what a source recorded for that language, beside the share of this name’s records the language holds. No single row is the name’s meaning.

  • Chinese41%

    nonstandard spelling of xiāo

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

  • English32%

    A type of Chinese flute.

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

The share is ours — how much of this name’s records each language holds. The sense beside it is the source’s, quoted and credited, including where it names a gender. We do not publish a gender of our own per language: our records carry one figure for the spelling as a whole.

Where in the world(measured from records)

Xiao 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 Xiao is recorded, by country
CountryMost common spellingSources
CN China—≈1,100,000 est.≈1 in 1.2K—Xiao183
MY Malaysia—≈11,000 est.≈1 in 3.1K—Xiao60
US United States—7,0661 in 47K10KXiao311
TW Taiwan—≈3,400 est.≈1 in 7K—Xiao81
NL Netherlands—≈2,300 est.≈1 in 7.4K54Xiao41
SG Singapore#355≈2,100 est.≈1 in 3K—Xiao78
HK Hong Kong#277≈1,700 est.≈1 in 4.2K—Xiao68

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 — First Name Frequency 2020 by sex; Census Bureau — Surname Frequency 2020; Meertens NVB — Nederlandse Voornamenbank (live per-name BRP counts, 1790-2017). 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)

Xiao is also recorded as 7 other names, grouped separately because the records behind them do not connect to the one described above.

  • English given name9 spellings in the group

    Most recorded in United States, Australia, China, Malaysia

    Languages: English, Dutch

    Also written Xiao', Xiāo, Xiaò, Xiǎo

  • a separate name5 spellings in the group

    Also written Xiào, Xiǎo, Xião

  • Spanish given name9 spellings in the group

    Most recorded in United States, France, China, Spain

    Languages: Spanish, French

    Also written Xiǎo, Xiáo, Xiâo, Xião, Xiào

  • Portuguese given name5 spellings in the group

    Most recorded in China, Brazil, United States, United Kingdom

    Also written Xîàô, Xïåo, Xiåo, Xião

  • German given name15 spellings in the group

    Most recorded in Germany, China, United States, Austria

    Languages: German, Chinese, English

    Also written XiaoE, Xiao-E, Xiao'E, Xiăo, Ẍiaoe

  • Russian given name11 spellings in the group

    Most recorded in China, Russia, United States, Ukraine

    Languages: Russian, Belarusian, Ukrainian

    Also written Сяо, Siao, Syao, Xiǎo

  • Indonesian given name2 spellings in the group

    Most recorded in China, Indonesia, Malaysia, United States

    Also written Xïäö

76 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)

Xiao 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 Galician, a male given name, equivalent to English Julian

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

  • In och, be small, little, young; belittle

    as a wordSchuessler, ABC Etymological Dictionary of Old Chinese (2007)

  • In och, to resemble (as son his father)

    as a wordSchuessler, ABC Etymological Dictionary of Old Chinese (2007)

  • In och, Pipe, flute

    as a wordSchuessler, ABC Etymological Dictionary of Old Chinese (2007)

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)

16001700180019002000Empress Xiaogongren, b. 1660Peng Xiaolian, b. 1953Li Xiaopeng, b. 1959Yang Xiao, b. 1964Xiaowei Zhuang, b. 1972Li Xiaoshuang, b. 1973Li Xiaopeng, b. 1981Li Xiaolu, b. 1982Chen Xiao, b. 1987Cui Xiaotong, b. 1994
  • Empress Xiaogongrenb. 1660CNnot in their usual nameQing Dynasty empress (of Emperor Kangxi); mother of Yongzheng Emperor
  • Peng Xiaolianb. 1953CNnot in their usual nameChinese film director (1953-2019)
  • Li Xiaopengb. 1959CNnot in their usual nameGovernor of Shanxi, son of former Premier Li Peng
  • Yang Xiaob. 1964CNChinese rower
  • Xiaowei Zhuangb. 1972CNnot in their usual nameChinese American biophysicist
  • Li Xiaoshuangb. 1973CNnot in their usual namegymnast
  • Li Xiaopengb. 1981CNnot in their usual nameChinese artistic gymnast (born 1981)
  • Li Xiaolub. 1982CNnot in their usual nameChinese actress
  • Chen Xiaob. 1987CNChinese television and film actor
  • Cui Xiaotongb. 1994CNnot in their usual nameChinese rower

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 60 sources across 31 countries.

Official registers attesting Xiao
CountryRegisterYearCountRank
US United StatesCensus Bureau — Surname Frequency 2020202010K#3,387
US United StatesCensus Bureau — Surname Frequency 201020106.1K#5,669
US United StatesCensus Bureau — Surname Frequency 200020002.8K#10,626

Reference works 4

  • Dictionary of American Family Names
  • Nederlandse FamilienamenBank (Dutch surname bank; ex-Meertens Instituut, now CBG)2007
  • Wikipedia given-name tokens
  • 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 Xiao mean, and where does it come from?
nonstandard spelling of xiāo Recorded by kaikki.org Wiktionary extract (IPA + transliterations).
What are other forms of the name Xiao?
In the etymology graph, Julian, Jules and Jolyon are forms of the same name in other languages.
Is Xiao a male or female name?
Xiao is recorded for both men and women. We don't publish a percentage split: a record's gender belongs to the person and is attached to every given name on that record, so names in cultures where a name string also carries a parent's or spouse's given name pick up large cross-gender counts.
In which country does Xiao have the most bearers?
Mondonomo estimates about 1.1 million people named Xiao in China, more than in any other country we hold, where it is most often spelled xiao.
How common is the name Xiao?
In the United States, the national register counted 7,066 people named Xiao in 2020, about 1 in 47 thousand residents.
How common is Xiao compared with other names?
In Hong Kong, Xiao is the 277th most common given name of 23,276 given names recorded there.

What do you want to know about Xiao?

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

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, “Xiao” — the 277th most common given name in Hong Kong. Data snapshot 2026-10-10.

See how Xiao parses inside a full name →