Luo or Lo refers to the Mandarin romanizations of the Chinese surnames 羅 (Simplified Chinese: 罗, pinyin: Luó, Jyutping: Lo4) and 駱 (Simplified Chinese: 骆, pinyin: Luò, Jyutping: Lok3). Of the two surnames, wikt:罗 is much more common among Chinese people. According to the Cantonese pronunciation, it can also refer to 盧.
In Cantonese, 罗/羅 is usually romanized as Lo and Law. In Teochew, 罗/羅 is most commonly transliterated as Low while in the Hokkien dialect it is romanized as Loke. In North Korea, 羅 is transcribed as 라 (Ra) and South Korea is transcribed as 나 (Na). In Vietnam, the name 羅 is pronounced La.
It is the 75th name on the Hundred Family Surnames poem.
Origins
The origin of the Luo surname dates back to descendants of Luo, a feudal state which existed during the Shang dynasty to the Warring States period (modern day Hubei).
Distribution
In 2019 it was the 20th most common surname in Mainland China.
Of the top 30 cities in China, 罗/羅 ranked eighth most common in Guiyang, ninth most common in Chongqing and Chengdu, and tenth most common in Changsha.