# Chinese-Speakers:  Is "Xao"  A Word?  If So, What Does It Mean?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chinese-speakers-is-xao-a-word-if-so-what-does-it-mean/242501>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [April 28, 2004, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chinese-speakers-is-xao-a-word-if-so-what-does-it-mean/242501 "2004-04-28T16:21:49Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 2

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\
**Post date:** [April 30, 2004, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chinese-speakers-is-xao-a-word-if-so-what-does-it-mean/242501/21 "2004-04-30T21:16:51Z")

</div>

> [@Sternvogel](#):
>
> Not that strange – “small” is generally considered the literal meaning of the English name _Paul_, Spanish _Pablo_, and the like.

It’s also the meaning of the last name Klein.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\
**Post date:** [April 30, 2004, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chinese-speakers-is-xao-a-word-if-so-what-does-it-mean/242501/22 "2004-04-30T22:03:11Z")

</div>

So Paul Gross is “little big?”

[Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chinese-speakers-is-xao-a-word-if-so-what-does-it-mean/242501.md?page=1)