Cheng
A Chinese given name meaning accomplished, prosperous, or successful.
Name Census estimates that about 658 living Americans carry the first name Cheng. It is a predominantly male name (94.4% of registrations). The average person named Cheng today is around 33 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Cheng births was 1990 (48 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Cheng. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Cheng with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
658
~ 1 in 520,903 Americans
Peak year
1990
48 babies that year
Average age
33
years old
2024 SSA rank
#11,148
Tracked since 1979
Census
Cheng in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 5,653 people with the first name Cheng, which placed it at #3,615 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#3,615
National first-name rank
People counted
5.7K
5,653 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
1.9
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
97.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Cheng
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Cheng is Asian/Pacific Islander at 97.6%. The next largest groups are White (1.4%) and Two or More Races (0.4%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Cheng described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Cheng at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander97.6% · 5,515
- White1.4% · 81
- Two or more races0.4% · 23
- Hispanic or Latino0.3% · 19
- Black or African American0.3% · 15
Gender
Gender distribution for Cheng
Cheng leans heavily male at 94.4% of total registrations, but 38 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Cheng as a male name
- Ranked #11,148 in 2024
- 6 male births in 2024
- Peak: 1990 (42 births)
Cheng as a female name
- Ranked #14,176 in 1997
- 5 female births in 1997
- Peak: 1988 (7 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Cheng on both sides of the split. Of the 5,656 people counted with this name, 4,310 were male (76.2%) and 1,346 were female (23.8%).
Popularity
Cheng: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Cheng from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 285 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1990s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Cheng by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Cheng during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Chengs live
The SSA's state-level files cover 3 states and territories. California, Minnesota, Wisconsin recorded the most babies named Cheng, while Wisconsin, Minnesota, California recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 122 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Cheng
The name Cheng is of Chinese origin, derived from the Mandarin Chinese language. Its earliest roots can be traced back to the 3rd century BC during the Qin Dynasty, where it was used to denote a person's occupation or rank.
One of the earliest recorded appearances of the name Cheng can be found in the ancient Chinese text, the Analects of Confucius, where it was used to refer to a person's moral integrity and virtue. In this context, the name Cheng was associated with qualities such as sincerity, honesty, and righteousness.
Throughout China's imperial history, the name Cheng was often bestowed upon individuals who held prominent positions or achieved significant accomplishments. For instance, Cheng Hao (1032-1085) was a renowned Neo-Confucian philosopher and poet during the Song Dynasty, known for his influential work on the concept of "principle" (li) and its relationship to human nature.
Another notable figure with the name Cheng was Cheng Yi (1033-1107), a contemporary of Cheng Hao and a fellow Neo-Confucian thinker. Cheng Yi is recognized for his contributions to the development of the Confucian school of thought known as the "Cheng-Zhu" school, which emphasized the importance of self-cultivation and moral cultivation.
In more recent history, Cheng Siwei (born 1935) is a prominent Chinese politician and economist who served as the Vice-Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress from 1998 to 2008. He played a significant role in shaping China's economic reforms and policies during the late 20th century.
Cheng Naishan (1546-1642) was a renowned Chinese landscape painter and calligrapher during the Ming Dynasty. His works, which often depicted nature scenes with a profound sense of tranquility and harmony, are highly regarded and have influenced generations of artists.
It's worth noting that while the name Cheng is predominantly of Chinese origin, it has also been adopted and used in other cultures and languages over time, particularly in areas with strong Chinese cultural influences or communities.
People
Cheng + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Cheng as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with C
Other first names starting with C with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Cheng: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Cheng?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 658 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Cheng going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 520,903 US residents.
Is Cheng a common name?
We classify Cheng as "Very Rare". It ranks above 87.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 679 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Cheng most popular?
The single biggest year for Cheng was 1990, when 48 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Cheng is about 33 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Cheng in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 5,653 people with the name Cheng, or 1.87 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #3,615 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Cheng in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Cheng?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Cheng on both sides of the split. Of the 5,656 people counted with this name, 4,310 were male (76.2%) and 1,346 were female (23.8%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Cheng?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Cheng is Asian/Pacific Islander at 97.6%. The next largest groups are White (1.4%) and Two or More Races (0.4%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Cheng most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Cheng in the 2020 Census, accounting for 97.6% (5,515 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Cheng in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Cheng a male name?
Yes, 94.4% of people registered as Cheng in the SSA data are male. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Cheng still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Cheng in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Cheng can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people share the name Cheng?
Want to know how many Americans are named Cheng? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.