Chinese : from the name of an area called Mao, in
present-day Henan province, during the Zhou dynasty (1122–221
bc. Bo Dan, the ninth son of Wen Wang, was granted this
following the establishment of the Zhou dynasty in 1122
bc). In due course his descendants adopted the place name Mao
as their surname. This character also means ‘hair’ or ‘feather’. ML
This was the family name of Mao Zedong (1893–1976), the Chinese
Communist Party chairman.Chinese : another son
of Wen Wang—the third, Mao Shu—was granted a different state,
whose name is also pronounced Mao. Descendants adopted the name
of this state as their surname. This character also means ‘thatched’
or ‘type of grass used in thatching’.Cambodian:
unexplained.
Dictionary of American Family Names, Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-508137-4
12,704
Historical Documents & Family Trees with Mao
The information for this chart came from the U.S. Immigration Collection at Ancestry.co.uk.
You can find out where the majority of the Mao families were living before
they immigrated to the U.S and learn where to focus your search for foreign records.
Immigration records can tell you an ancestor's name, ship name, port of departure,
port of arrival, and destination.