Lao / Lao
Lao, pronounced lǎo, is a relatively rare surname found in Qingyuan in Liaoning, Foshan and Xinhui and other places in Guangdong, Pingle in Guangxi, Hong Kong, and Macao. It occurs among Han, Lisu, and other ethnic groups.
Traditional accounts derive the surname from descendants of Laotong, son of Zhuanxu; descendants of Lao Dan or Lao Laizi; or descendants of Duke Dai of Song who adopted the name of their fief as a surname.
In a Manchu-Han surname correspondence list, the single-character surname Lao is associated with the older Manchu clan name Sakda.
The Lao surname is included in the clan-name sections of Zheng Tongzhi and Xu Tongzhi. Xingshi Kaolüe records that the Lao clan of Song descended from Duke Dai’s grandson, took its surname from a place, and was associated with Henan commandery.
Recorded bearers include Lao Zuo of the state of Song in the Spring and Autumn period, Lao Ma, a Song-dynasty painter from Guanzhong, and Lao Zhaoxiang, a successful provincial examination candidate during the Jiajing era of the Ming dynasty.
Whether Laozi originally bore the surname Lao remains a debated interpretation. Tang Lan regarded the character Lao in Lao Dan as a clan name and argued that ancient texts show no trace of the surname Li; Guo Moruo, Ma Xulun, Chen Duxiu, and others agreed.
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