Cariou is a surname. Notable people with the name include:
The Breton etymology of Cariou (friend) is from Gallo-Roman name Carus and Carius (dear, darling).
Corentin Cariou (1898–1942), born in Loctudy, alderman of the 19th arrondissement of Paris, shot as a hostage during the occupation. An avenue in Paris and a subway station named after him in this district. Corentin Cariou, pseudonym of Yves Le Drézen (1899–1972), journalist Jacques Cariou, Eventing rider Len Cariou (born 1939), Canadian actor Patrick Cariou, photographer, or Cariou v. Prince, a US Second Circuit copyright case about art Warren Cariou, writer and associate professor of English at the University of Manitoba