Rao is a title and a surname native to India. It is used mostly in states of Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Haryana, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, and Telangana.
As a surname
Notable people with this surname or title include the following:
Pre-independence
- Rao Tula Ram (c. 1825 – 1863) - Rewari King who fought Great Battle of 1857.
- T. Madhava Rao (1829–1891) - Diwan of Travancore from 1857 to 1872.
- R. Raghunatha Rao (c. February 1831 – May 3, 1912) - Diwan of Indore from 1875 to 1888
- R. Venkata Rao - Diwan of Travancore from 1821 to 1829.
- T. Subba Rao - Diwan of Travancore from 1830 to 1837.
- V. P. Madhava Rao - 17th Diwan of the Mysore kingdom
- T. Ananda Rao - 18th Diwan of the Mysore kingdom
- N. Madhava Rao - 23rd Diwan of the Mysore Kingdom
- K. Krishnaswamy Rao - Diwan of Travancore from 1898 to 1904
- T. Rama Rao (administrator) - Diwan of Travancore from 1887 to 1892
- T. Ramachandra Rao (1825-1879) - Indian civil servant and first native Indian to serve as Deputy Commissioner of Police of Madras.
- R. Ramachandra Rao (1871 – 1936) - Indian civil servant and mathematician.
- R. Balaji Rao (1842–1896) - an Indian politician, independence activist.
- Gangadharrao Deshpande (1871-1960) (also known as Lion of Karnataka) - Indian activist and leader of Indian independence movement against British rule from Belgaum.
- C. Hayavadana Rao (1865 – 1946) - an Indian historian, museologist, anthropologist, economist and polyglot.
- T. Gopala Rao (1832 – 1886) - educationist, served as the Principal of Government Arts College, Kumbakonam after William Archer Porter and first inspector of schools under British government.
Post-independence
- Raja Rao writer of English-language novels and short stories, whose works are deeply rooted in metaphysics
- Ayyagari Sambasiva Rao (1914–2003), an Indian scientist, founder of the Electronics Corporation of India Limited
- Adinarayana Rao, Telugu film director and founder of Anjali pictures.
- Akkineni Nageswara Rao, Telugu film actor and founder of Annapurna studios. He received Padma Bhushan for his contribution to film industry.
- Calyampudi Radhakrishna Rao (1920–2023), Indian-born American mathematician and statistician
- Chennamaneni Hanumantha Rao, Indian economist and writer
- C. S. Rao (writer), Indian writer, actor, director and producer
- C. S. Rao (1924–2004), an Indian actor, writer and director
- Dabeeru C. Rao, Indian-American statistical geneticist
- Dasari Narayana Rao, Telugu film director and actor.
- Dileep Rao (1973–), American actor
- Ganta Srinivasa Rao, Indian politician, ex-Lok Sabha member
- Gundu Hanumantha Rao, Indian actor
- Gnaneswara Rao, Indian cricketer
- Joginder Singh Rao, Indian cricketer
- Karri Narayana Rao, Indian lawyer, ex-member of Lok Sabha and Indian politician
- Kemburi Ramamohan Rao, Indian Politician, ex-member of Lok Sabha
- Kimidi Kalavenkata Rao, Indian Politician, ex-minister, ex-member of Rajya Sabha
- K. Keshava Rao,member of Rajya Sabha
- K. R. Rao, professor of electrical engineering at the University of Texas and co-inventor of the discrete cosine transform
- K. S. Rama Rao, Telugu cinema producer
- Kodela Siva Prasad Rao, speaker of Andhra Pradesh Assembly
- Kalvakuntla Chandrashekar Rao, Chief minister of Telangana
- Michael Rao (1967–), president of Virginia Commonwealth University since 2009
- Muttamsetti Srinivasa Rao, Indian Politician, Ex-member of Lok Sabha and minister in Andhra Pradesh Cabinet
- N. T. Rama Rao (1923 – 1996), film personality and former chief minister of united Andhra Pradesh
- Narla Tata Rao, Engineer and recipient of Padma Shri award
- Neomi Rao, American attorney and government official
- Nirmala Rao, British academic, present VC of Asian University for Women.
- Pappala Chalapathi Rao, Indian Politician
- P. V. Narasimha Rao - 9th Prime Minister Of India
- Rajkummar Rao, Indian film actor.
- Amrita Rao, Indian film actress
- Panje Mangesh Rao (1874 – 1937) Indian writer and poet
- Aditi Rao Hydari, Indian film actress
- Preetika Rao, Indian television actress
- Ramoji Rao, Telugu businessman, owner of Ramoji group
- Samarla Venkata Ranga Rao (1918 – 1974), Telugu film actor and recipient of Rashtrapati Award and International Award.
- Thummala Nageswara Rao, Telangana minister
- Udupi Ramachandra Rao - Indian space scientist and director of ISRO
- V. Hanumantha Rao, Ex-member of Rajya Sabha, Indian politician
- Vandana Rao, Arjuna Awardee who represented India in 1984 and 1988 Olympics in 4 × 400 m women relay race
- Vangaveeti Mohana Ranga Rao (known as Ranga; 1947 – 1988) was an Indian National Congress politician
- Vanama Venkateshwara Rao, Ex-minister in Andhra Pradesh
- Swami Ramdas (born Vittal Rao), a saint from Kanhangad, Kerala
- Gitanjali Rao (scientist) – high achiever in science at STEM School Highlands Ranch, Colorado, US
- Y. S. Rao, professor at IIT Bombay
See also
References
This page lists people with the surname Rao.
If an internal link intending to refer to a specific person led you to this page, you may wish to change that link by adding the person's given name(s) to the link.
If an internal link intending to refer to a specific person led you to this page, you may wish to change that link by adding the person's given name(s) to the link.