Cho

Cho is a surname of Korean origin and also a syllable found in other East Asian naming and transliteration practices. In Korea, the surname is written in Hangul as 조 and is among the more commonly encountered family names in Korean communities worldwide.

In Korean usage, Cho represents one possible romanization of the Hangul 조. Officially, the Revised Romanization renders it as Jo, but Cho remains common in English-language contexts and among older generations abroad. The surname can be represented by several hanja characters, so its exact meaning varies by family line and character chosen.

Globally, Cho is widely found among people of Korean descent, including large diaspora communities in the United States, Canada, China, Japan, and parts of Southeast Asia. Its frequency and distribution reflect broader patterns of Korean emigration and surname transmission across generations, and it appears in various professional fields, from business and academia to arts and sports.

Other uses of the term include CHO as an acronym for Chinese hamster ovary cells, a cell line extensively used in biotechnology for research and biopharmaceutical production. In Japanese and Chinese transliteration systems, “cho” appears as a syllable in place names or as part of longer words; in Japanese, the reading chō or 町 can denote town or district in certain contexts.

In summary, Cho primarily denotes a common Korean surname with multiple hanja origins, while also functioning as an acronym and as a transliteration element in other East Asian linguistic contexts.