maos

Maos is a plural or anglicized form used to refer to people who bear the Chinese surname Mao (毛). It is not a separate given name or title but a way to talk about individuals who share that surname, or the Mao family as a group in English prose.

The surname Mao is common in China and among Chinese communities abroad. In Mandarin, it is pronounced roughly as "Mao" with a falling-rising tone, and the character 毛 has meanings such as hair or fur. In practice, the semantic content of the character is not the primary source of information about the name; it is primarily a surname with historical lineage in Chinese history and culture.

In English-language writing, "Maos" appears mainly when discussing multiple people with the surname or referring to a family lineage. The most prominent bearer associated with the name is Mao Zedong (毛泽东), the revolutionary leader who founded the People's Republic of China. Other individuals with the surname Mao have contributed to fields such as politics, science, literature, and the arts, reflecting the surname’s broad geographic and cultural distribution.

See also: Mao (surname). For further disambiguation or information about specific individuals named Mao, consult dedicated articles on those persons or on the surname Mao in general.