Dong
A masculine Chinese name meaning robust or magnificent.
Name Census estimates that about 303 living Americans carry the first name Dong. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Dong today is around 39 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Dong births was 1991 (19 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Dong. 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.
People living today
303
~ 1 in 1,131,202 Americans
Peak year
1991
19 babies that year
Average age
39
years old
2017 SSA rank
#11,120
Tracked since 1956
Popularity
Dong: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Dong from the 1950s through to the 2010s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 106 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
Dong 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 Dong during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Dongs live
The SSA's state-level files cover 3 states and territories. Kansas, California, New York recorded the most babies named Dong, while New York, California, Kansas recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 20 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Dong
The name Dong has its origins in Chinese culture and language, dating back to ancient times. It is believed to be derived from the Chinese word "dong," which means "east" or "eastern." The name was likely given to individuals born in the eastern regions of China or associated with the east in some way.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Dong can be found in the historical text "Shiji" (Records of the Grand Historian), written by Sima Qian in the 1st century BC. The text mentions a notable figure named Dong Zhongshu, a philosopher and scholar who lived during the Han Dynasty (206 BC - 220 AD).
In the realm of literature, the name Dong appears in the famous Chinese novel "Romance of the Three Kingdoms," written in the 14th century. One of the central characters is Dong Zhuo, a powerful warlord and military leader who lived during the late Eastern Han Dynasty (25 - 220 AD).
Throughout Chinese history, several notable figures have borne the name Dong. One such individual was Dong Qichang (1555 - 1636), a renowned painter, calligrapher, and art theorist during the Ming Dynasty. Another was Dong Haichuan (1798 - 1879), a martial artist and founder of the Baguazhang style of Chinese boxing.
In more recent times, the name Dong has been associated with prominent individuals like Dong Biwu (1886 - 1975), a Chinese revolutionary and political leader who served as the Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress. Additionally, Dong Jiong (1923 - 2012) was a celebrated Chinese agronomist and academician known for his contributions to the development of hybrid rice.
While the name Dong has its roots in Chinese culture, it has also been adopted and used in other parts of the world, albeit to a lesser extent. For example, there have been notable individuals with the name Dong from countries like Korea and Vietnam, which have been influenced by Chinese culture and language over the centuries.
People
Dong + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Dong as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with D
Other first names starting with D with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Dong: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Dong?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 303 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Dong 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 1,131,202 US residents.
Is Dong a common name?
We classify Dong as "Very Rare". It ranks above 79.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 318 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Dong most popular?
The single biggest year for Dong was 1991, when 19 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Dong is about 39 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Dong a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Dong 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.
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.