Guo
A very common Chinese surname, most often written 郭, with a long history of use in China.
The #2,975 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 25,626 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Guo is a Chinese surname most commonly represented by the character 郭. In origin it comes from an old Chinese word for an outer wall or city rampart, and by extension from place-names or feudal titles associated with such fortified settlements. The same romanization can also represent other Chinese surnames in some dialects or older transliteration systems, but 郭 is by far the usual form.
History
The surname 郭 has been used for many centuries in China and is traditionally counted among the long-established Chinese family names. In modern use, Guo is a standard pinyin romanization, so the same surname may appear in older records under several spellings depending on dialect and transcription system. It is now one of the more familiar Chinese surnames worldwide, including in overseas Chinese communities.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
In Mandarin, 郭 is pronounced with a sound that does not have a perfect one-letter equivalent in English, which is why older romanizations produced several different spellings.
From the historical record
“Robert Abraham Luard came from :n in Normandy and Settled London, a guo the Luards of Lincolnshire and Essex': Lower's Patr, Brit. p. aoi. I7.«. ManHed— Peter. Robert Loard and Jbds Borryan : St Geo, Chap. May-”
— A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames, with special American instances