Bao

Spellings & scripts●

Spellings marked ● are how people bearing the name write it in our records; ○ marks a model's transliteration. Click a spelling to open its page.

Meaning & origin●

Attested across 5 languages in the etymology graph.

Languages●

Language is read off each record's context, not declared by the bearer; a share is of all records for this spelling.

Other names spelled this way◐

Bao is also recorded as 6 other names, grouped separately because the records behind them do not connect to the one described above.

• a separate given name117K records spelled Bao25 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, United Kingdom, China, Malaysia

  Also written Bảo, Bào, Båo, ̶b̶̶ả̶̶o̶, Báo

• English given name92K records spelled Bao30 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, Australia, Germany, United Kingdom

  Languages: English, German, Dutch

  Also written Bảo, Ba-O, Baoe, Báo, Bão

• Spanish given name38K records spelled Bao13 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, El Salvador, Peru, Brazil

  Languages: Spanish, Portuguese

  Also written Bảo, Ba-O, Bão, Báo, Båo

• a separate given name28K records spelled Bao6 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, China, United Kingdom, India

  Also written Bảo, Báo, Bào, Bāo, Bão

• French given name8.0K records spelled Bao5 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in France, United States, China, Canada

  Also written Bảo, Ba-O, Bão, Báo

• Finnish given name3.0K records spelled Bao7 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Finland, United States, China

  Languages: Finnish, Estonian

  Also written Bảo, Báo, Bão

78 further groups record this spelling and are not listed here.

Grouping is the name graph's, not a register's: two spellings join a group when the evidence links them, so a group is a claim about the records rather than about the people.

Other recorded senses●

Bao is also recorded in 5 other lexicons, as a different name or as an ordinary word. These are senses of the spelling, not of the name above.

• In Vietnamese, bag; sack; pack

  as a word·kaikki.org Wiktionary extract (IPA + transliterations)

• Tesoro

  as a name·25,000 nombres de bebé. La mejor guía para escoger el nombre adecuado

• In Latin, acronym of baccalaureus in arte obstetrīciā (“bachelor of obstetrics”)

  as a word·kaikki.org Wiktionary extract (IPA + transliterations)

• In msk, turtle

  as a word·kaikki.org Wiktionary extract (IPA + transliterations)

• In bbc, wife’s brother’s wife, husband’s sister’s husband

  as a word·Austronesian Comparative Dictionary (ACD), CLDF v2.0

Ordered by how much of this spelling's record each language holds, so a sense from a language the name is barely used in sits last rather than first.

Over time●

US SSA — National Baby Names (1880–present) — 50 years between 1976–2025. One register's own figures, never a sum across registers: two registers counting the same people would double them.

Notable people with this name●

• Zhang Baob. 200CNYellow Turban leader
• Cheung Po Tsaib. 1783CNnot in their usual name18th- and 19th-century Chinese naval officer and former pirate
• Nguyễn Phúc Miên Bảob. 1820VN(born 1820)
• Nguyễn Phúc Miên Bảob. 1835VNBorn 1835
• Vang Paob. 1929LAnot in their usual nameLaotian-American soldier and former drug smuggler
• Bảo Ânb. 1951VNson of Bao Dai
• Li Baolianb. 1963CNnot in their usual nameChinese javelin thrower
• Pauline Chanb. 1973CNnot in their usual nameHong Kong actress (1973-2002)
• Chi Bảob. 1973VNVietnamese actor
• Bảo Anhb. 1992VNVietnamese singer and actress

The ten people covered by the most Wikipedia language editions — a proxy for cross-cultural notability, which favours historical and Western figures over equally prominent contemporary ones — shown by birth year. Source: Wikidata (CC0).

Evidence●

Register rows as of the 2026-09-12 data build · 421 rows in the corpus for this spelling.

Frequently asked questions

How common is the name Bao?

We estimate roughly 6.0 thousand people bear Bao (counting its spellings and scripts) across 9 countries in our records.

In which country does Bao have the most bearers?

Bao is most frequently recorded in Vietnam, where it is most often spelled bao.

How common is Bao compared with other names?

In Vietnam, Bao is the 31st most common given name of 72,115 given names recorded there.

Is Bao a male or female name?

Bao is recorded for both men and women. We don't publish a percentage split: a record's gender belongs to the person and is attached to every given name on that record, so names in cultures where a name string also carries a parent's or spouse's given name pick up large cross-gender counts.

What does the name Bao mean?

Recorded meaning: Any of various types of steamed bread or bun used in Chinese cuisine