Lao
An uncommon surname that can be mistaken for a short name from several languages, with no single well-established English origin.
The #5,856 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 52,356 Americans shares it.
Etymology
The surname Lao is too sparsely documented in the excerpts to support one secure derivation. In many cases, surnames of this form can arise independently from different languages, including as a short locational, nickname, or transliterated surname from outside the English-speaking world. Because the historical sources provided do not give a clear etymology for this exact surname, any single meaning would be speculative.
History
The excerpts do not provide a direct dictionary entry for Lao, only incidental mentions in broader surname lists. Its presence in a modern U.S. census count suggests it has relatively recent or diverse origins in the United States, rather than a long, single-stream English history. Without a focused historical citation, it is safest to treat Lao as a surname of mixed or uncertain background.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Its two-letter-seeming shape makes Lao easy to misread in old indexes and surname lists, which is one reason short surnames can be tricky to trace.
From the historical record
“1794. Married -William Tollitt and Ell(;^dlard i St. Geo. Has. Sq. ii. lao. D,y:.eG oyCjOOg IC”
— A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames, with special American instances