Twenty ancient surnames, including Yao surname, Ji surname and Yi surname, all originated from matriarchal clan society more than 2,000 years ago BC, and have been one of the four oldest surnames in China for nearly 5,000 years.

Yao's surname comes from Yu Shun, one of the five emperors. Shun (Yu Yu's real name is Zhong Hua) was born in the ruins of Yao, and his descendants take the land as their surname, which is called Yao's.

Yao's surname is mainly distributed in Zhejiang, Anhui, Guangdong and Jiangsu provinces in China, ranking 10 1 among the top 100 surnames in Song Dynasty and 5 1 among the top 100 surnames in China in 2007.