Macau or Macao?

Like everyone else creating content about Macau these days, we've been confronted with the usage question -- what's the right way to spell the name? Macau? or Macao?

It's actually more complicated than it may seem...

Choosing Sides

There's a lot of division on this subject. Even the big names in the news industry can't seem to agree. The Washington Post: Macau. The New York Times: Macao. The Associated Press: Macau.

Looking a little more locally, we find little better guidance (at least in practice). Several prominent quasi-official sites, like the Macau Airport and the Macau Grand Prix, prefer the "u." The Macau Tourism Office also adds a strong endorsement of the "u" version, unfortunately the Macao Monetary Authority breaks things up a bit and chooses to use the "o."

Add to all this confusion the fact that Macau SAR passports and the government's web portal spell it both ways and you have a situation ripe for confusion!

A Bit of History

The name evolved into common usage while the region was a colony of Portugal. The archaic Portugese spelling of the name is Macao. Modern Portugese spelling, however is Macau, and that form is now widely used.

Fast-forwarding to the present, the Macau Government has chosen to keep the modern spelling (Macau). Mainland China, however, has adopted the archaic spelling (Macao).

Sound Off!

We've chosen the contemporary form, Macau, for this usage guidelines of this site, but we clearly recognize both. While the Sands and Venetian casinos have both cast their votes for the "o" spelling, we're hoping to win the hearts and minds battle in this spelling showdown.

After all what would Macau be without u?