Chinese surname

姚

The Chinese surname 姚 (Mandarin yáo, Cantonese jiu4) is spelled Yew, Yeo, Yeow, Yiu in Malaysia, depending on the dialect romanization.

Mandarin (pinyin)	yáo
Cantonese (Jyutping)	jiu4
Definition (Unihan)	handsome, elegant; surname

Spelling tree of 姚

姚 is spelled 4 ways in our records. Each label is the romanization a spelling follows, not the bearer’s dialect.

Spelling	Romanization
Yew	Cantonese
Yeo	Hokkien · Teochew
Yeow	Hokkien · Cantonese · Hakka
Yiu	Cantonese

All surname characters and spellings

Spellings of 姚 in Malaysia

YewSpelling common in Hokkien, Teochew, Cantonese romanizationAlso stands for 尤
YeoSpelling common in Hokkien, Teochew romanizationAlso stands for 楊
YeowSpelling common in Cantonese, Hakka, Hokkien romanization
YiuSpelling common in Cantonese romanizationAlso stands for 饒

Character readings and definition: Unicode Unihan Database (Unicode License). A spelling describes how the name is written, not anyone’s dialect or background.