Use of "Neo" after a female name

[sportflyer]

While tracing my family tree , I noticed that some female names have a "neo" attached after the name for example. Tan Siew Lian Neo What is the meaning of the character 'Neo" in this case? Thanks

[niuc]

"Neo" (niu5) is 娘 (niang2 in Mandarin), in this context it means "lady", though not necessarily indicating nobility. Many older style Hokkien names for women has this as part of the name, not merely added as salutation at the end of the name.

娘 can be read as nia5 meaning "mother".

btw, neo/niu/nio5 also is one of the pronunciations for 梁 (my surname: Neo), 粱, 糧 and 量.

[sportflyer]

Indeed I find the "Neo" appended to the name only in about 5% of the female names earlier than 1890

Thanks for the explanation.