Shaw is most commonly a surname and rarely a given name.
The name is of English and Scottish origin. In some cases, the surname is an Americanization of a similar-sounding Ashkenazic Jewish surname.[1] In England and Scotland, the name is a topographic name for someone who lived by a copse or thicket.[1] This name is derived from the Middle English schage, shage, schawe, and shawe, from the Old English sceaga meaning "dweller by the wood".[1][2] The name can also be a habitational name derived from places named after these words. The English surname was established in Ireland during the 17th century.
Shaw is a romanization of Chinese: 邵 with various Latinized spellings, including Shaw, Siaw, Siew, Shao, Shiu, Siu, Chow, and Sho.
Shaw is also a rare romanization of the simplified Chinese: 萧; traditional Chinese: 蕭, inspired by its use as the transliteration of Shaw for notable figures such as Irish playwright George Bernard Shaw and English actor Robert Shaw.
