The surname Xiao is not considered a rare surname. According to the 2019 National Name Report published by the Ministry of Public Security, the surname Xiao ranks 30th among surnames in China, and the current population with the surname Xiao is about 9 million.
Xiao's name includes the founding general Xiao Jinguang, the former president of the Supreme People's Court Xiao Yang, the famous writer Xiao Fuxing, and the popular star Xiao Zhan.
There are many theories about the surname Xiao**, among which the more common ones are derived from the surname of the child and from the ancient Xiao Kingdom. There is a saying that the surname Xiao comes from the heart of Xiao Shu, a doctor of the Song Kingdom in the Spring and Autumn Period, and belongs to the name of the ancestor. There is also a theory that the surname Xiao comes from Xiao He, a famous strategist during the Han Dynasty.
There are also some people who believe that the surname Xiao is a variant or simplified character of the surname "Xiao", because after the introduction of the second simplified character in the middle of the last century, "Xiao" was simplified to "Xiao". Since it is not said that the surname can not be simplified, many people who originally had the surname "Xiao" were reduced to the surname "Xiao".
Later, after the official abolition of the two simplified characters, the relevant regulations of the household registration management department stipulated that it was very difficult to change the surname, so many people did not change back to the original surname. Still, there are some people who choose to change their surname back to the original "Xiao" surname.
In addition, there have indeed been few surnames of "Xiao" in history, but reading four tones is different from the origin of "Xiao". Ming Dynasty Ling Dizhi's "Genealogy of Ten Thousand Surnames" volume 103: "Xiao: Han, Xiao Angu." Xiao Shi, Xiao Yu, Xiao Yan, Xiao Tong (all Chen Liuren, see "Yin Xu"). Ming, Xiao Jing, a native of Xiangcheng, Xuande Zhongxieyuan. ”
In this way, the origins of "Xiao" and "Xiao" may really be different, but I don't know why there is suddenly no surname Xiao in history?