Welcome , Xiao family

Welcome, all people with surnames of Xiao,Seow, Siow,Siew, Hsiao, Siu, Siao; are all Xiao(蕭)family.

Xiao (traditional Chinese: 蕭; simplified Chinese: 萧/肖) is a Chinese surname. In Wade-Giles, it is rendered as Hsiao. It may also be romanized as Siew or Siu.

In Malaysia & Singapore (former colony of the British empire,used direct translation from the various Chinese dialects), the Hokkian or Teochew Chinese romanized "Xiao" as "Seow". Teochew "Seow" are mainly Chaoyangxiao(潮阳萧氏) from Chaoyang(潮阳), Kwangtung(广东省), China. The most famous Hokkian Xiao is the Vice President of Republic of China(Taiwan), Mr. Vincent Siew(蕭萬長).

The Hakka "Xiao"Chinese(客籍萧氏), especially Huichew Hakka (客籍广东惠州萧氏)of Titi(知知港) (in Negeri Sembilan state of Malaysia), a village town with a high concentration of Hakka people with the surname of Xiao, romanized "Xiao" as "Siow" or "Seow". There are some Hakka Xiao from Paihou(百侯镇), Dapu(大埔县), Kwangtung, China. Paihou town is having high concentration of Hakka Xiao people.

There are also other Xiao people from Kwangtung Province, they normally used romanized Siow or Siew

The young may also used "Xiao" if they followed romanized Chinese.

In Taiwan, it is normally Siew or Hsiao in traditional Chinese; Singapore has more Seow.

In China now, Xiao people all used Xiao now, but the writing of Xiao may be simplified Chinese 萧 or 肖. There is currently the movement to return to writing of 萧, which is accepted simplified Chinese writing of traditional Chinese, 蕭(not 肖). 肖, which cannot be the simplified writing for our Xiao surname, it is not the simplified version of original traditional Chinese writing of Xiao(蕭). There is a saying by Chinese, that we cannot change our surname, so 肖 is not acceptable in our culture. In China, there are Xiao people who has successfully changed their surname from Chinese writing 肖 to 萧. For Malaysian or Singaporean, please avoid using 肖, the writing is not the proper simplified Chinese writing for our Xiao surname.

For people born in China, prior to the use of simplified Chinese and romanized Chinese; there were various English used for Xiao. The famous Hong Kong actress,Siu Fong Fong(萧芳芳)is Josephine Siao, her original name is Siao Liang(萧亮). Siu Fong Fong was born in China near Shanghai, where during the pre-war period it was very westernized colonized city. Her surname is Siao, when she is in Hong Kong she use the name of Siu Fong Fong for her acting career, the surname in English has changed to Siu,using local Cantonese pronunciation of Xiao.

In Hong Kong, The 55th most common family name "Xiao" (肖) appears to be very rare. This is explained by the fact that Hong Kong uses traditional Chinese characters, not simplified Chinese characters. Originally, the surname 蕭 (Xiao) was rather common while the surname 肖 (Xiao) was extremely rare, if not non-existent (it is mentioned only sporadically in historical texts). The first round of simplification in 1956 simplified 蕭 into 萧, keeping 蕭, /萧 and 肖 distinct. However the second round in 1977, which has long been abolished, merged 萧 and 肖 into 肖. Despite the retraction of the second round, some people have kept 肖 as their surname, so that there are now two separate surnames, 萧 and 肖.

In Korea, Xiao is So.

Xiao family members from all over the world, may used different English for Xiao surname; due to the background of different pronunciation from various dialect, especially oversea Chinese.I have also seen "Saw" used as English surname for Xiao, which is not normal and may be wrong; but if the parent used dialect or pronounced wrongly when reported the birth of the child, the surname will be wrongly registered in the birth certificate. But they are all family of Xiao. But it is important to know the Chinese writing of your surname, otherwise you may wrongly follow other people's ancestor and use their surname. Wherever you are, to know your Chinese name in Chinese writing is the only way to identify your root. If you are going to search for your root,this is the first step....

The Jiang family(江氏) from Jiangwan(江湾), Wuyuan(婺源), Anhui(安徽省) Province(now jiangxi, 江西省)who called themselves Xiao Jiang family(萧江氏). Xiao Jiang family was actually Xiao family from Danyang(丹阳(蕭南兰陵)东城里萧氏). So Xiao Jiang family is also Xiao family.The former President of China, Mr Jiang zeming(江泽民）is from Xiao Jiang family,is actually from Xiao family. So, people with surname of Jiang from Jiangwan are also from Xiao family.

So people with the surnames Xiao, Hsiao, Siew, Siu, Seow, Siow, Siao are the descendants of the same Xiao family from ancient China. Yes, also Jiang family from Jiangwan.....

萧姓始祖——萧大心
萧姓产生于公元前681年，得姓始祖子大心，史称萧叔大心。萧叔大心是宋国建立者微子的后人，从微子姓子姓。他的出生年代与出生地史书上都没有记载，出生地应该在宋国发源地，今天的河南商丘一带。