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Yao

Yao is a unisex given name: about 50% of people named Yao are men and 50% are women, so a gendered salutation is a coin flip and the neutral form is the safe choice.

UnisexMedium
Male 50%Female 50%

This name is used for both men and women without a strong lean either way.

Verdict
Unisex
Male / female split
50% male / 50% female
Confidence
Medium (8 to 63 weighted country observations)
Most common in
China
Data
nam_dict (GFDL) + US SSA
Updated
2026-09-11

How to address Yao

To address Yao when you do not know their gender, use the full name with no title: "Dear Yao," in English, "Guten Tag Yao," in German. About 50% of people named Yao are men and 50% are women, so a gendered salutation is close to a coin flip, and the neutral form above is the safer choice.

Ready-made greetings in six languages

English

Dear Yao,

German

Guten Tag Yao,

French

Bonjour Yao,

Spanish

Estimado/a Yao:

Chinese

Yao您好：

Japanese

Yao様

English

Hi Yao,

German

Hi Yao,

French

Salut Yao,

Spanish

Hola Yao,

Chinese

Yao你好：

Japanese

Yaoさん

Greeting generator

This is a statistical estimate, not a statement about the gender, identity or correct form of address of any particular person.

Country breakdown

Gender of the name Yao by country (nam_dict, 55 country columns)
CountryHow commonUsuallyMale share
Chinauncommonunisex name50%

Frequently asked questions

Is Yao a male or female name?

Yao is a unisex given name: about 50% of people named Yao are men and 50% are women, so a gendered salutation is a coin flip and the neutral form is the safe choice.

How do I address Yao in an email?

To address Yao when you do not know their gender, use the full name with no title: "Dear Yao," in English, "Guten Tag Yao," in German. About 50% of people named Yao are men and 50% are women, so a gendered salutation is close to a coin flip, and the neutral form above is the safer choice.

Is Yao a unisex name?

Yao is a unisex name: 50% of people named Yao are men. The split stays close across most of the countries in the data.

Related names

BoMostly maleYanUnisexLiUnisexWeiUnisexJunUnisexLeiUnisexJianUnisexYingUnisex

Sources

Gender by country: nam_dict, the c't first-names dictionary by Joerg Michael, roughly 44,000 names across 55 countries, licensed GFDL. US frequencies: United States Social Security Administration baby-name data, public domain. Method: how we classify names. Full dataset: data & licences. Data built 2026-09-11.

Cite this page

DearWho, "Is Yao a male or female name?", https://dearwho.vercel.app/name/yao (accessed 2026-09-11). Data: nam_dict (J. Michael, GFDL) and US SSA, built 2026-09-11.

BibTeX
@misc{dearwho_yao,
  title  = {Is Yao a male or female name?},
  author = {{DearWho}},
  year   = {2026},
  url    = {https://dearwho.vercel.app/name/yao},
  note   = {Data: nam_dict (GFDL), US SSA public domain}
}