Gau

Two main origins:

• Borrowed from German Gau, a habitational surname.
• A variant of Gao, a surname of Chinese origin.

Gau (plural Gaus)

1. A surname.

• According to the 2010 United States Census, Gau is the 19703^rd most common surname in the United States, belonging to 1367 individuals. Gau is most common among White (76.74%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (18.07%) individuals.

• Hanks, Patrick, editor (2003), “Gau”, in Dictionary of American Family Names, volume 2, New York: Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 21.

• IPA^(key): /ɡaʊ̯/
• Rhymes: -aʊ̯

From Middle High German göu, gou, from Old High German gawi, gouwi, from Proto-West Germanic *gawi, from Proto-Germanic *gawją from earlier *gaawja (“riverlands, lakeside land”), from collective *ga- + *awjō (“land by a waterway”).

Gau m (strong, genitive Gaues or Gaus, plural Gaue)

1. (now chiefly in placenames) shire; district
2. (historical) an administrative unit of the Third Reich
3. (historical) nome of ancient Egypt

• Gaugraf
• Gauleiter
• Reichsgau

From the acronym GAU (“worst-case scenario”).

Gau m (strong, genitive Gaus or Gaues, plural Gaus or Gaue)

1. (informal) an accident, a calamity
   • Roland Kopp-Wichmann, Depression ist für das Herz genauso schädlich wie Rauchen:

     Außerdem neigen die Blutplättchen von depressiven Menschen eher dazu, sich zu Gerinnseln zusammenzuballen. Diese können irgendwann wichtige Adern verstopfen und einen Gau im Herzen oder Hirn auslösen.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

• “Gau” in Duden online
• “Gau” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache