Ling
Delicate Chinese name meaning "tiny" or referring to a willow tree.
Name Census estimates that about 207 living Americans carry the first name Ling. It is a predominantly female name (91.6% of registrations). The average person named Ling today is around 31 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Ling births was 1981 (13 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Ling. 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 Ling with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
207
~ 1 in 1,655,818 Americans
Peak year
1981
13 babies that year
Average age
31
years old
1991 SSA rank
#6,986
Tracked since 1977
Census
Ling in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 7,064 people with the first name Ling, which placed it at #3,111 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
#3,111
National first-name rank
People counted
7.1K
7,064 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
2.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
95.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Ling
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Ling is Asian/Pacific Islander at 95.4%. The next largest groups are White (2.0%) and Hispanic (1.1%). 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 Ling 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 Ling at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander95.4% · 6,742
- White2.0% · 141
- Hispanic or Latino1.1% · 77
- Two or more races0.8% · 60
- Black or African American0.6% · 41
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.0% · 3
Gender
Gender distribution for Ling
Ling leans heavily female at 91.6% of total registrations, but 18 boys have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Ling as a male name
- Ranked #6,986 in 1991
- 7 male births in 1991
- Peak: 1991 (7 births)
Ling as a female name
- Ranked #12,865 in 2024
- 7 female births in 2024
- Peak: 1981 (13 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Ling leans strongly female. 6,076 people counted with this name were female (86.1%), compared with 981 male bearers (13.9%).
Popularity
Ling: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Ling from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 86 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1980s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Ling 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 Ling during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Lings live
Origin
Meaning and history of Ling
The name Ling has its origins in various Asian cultures and languages. In Chinese, Ling is a common given name that can have several meanings, including "gemstone," "spirit," or "willow tree." It is a name with a long and rich history, dating back to ancient times.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Ling can be found in the Chinese classic literary work "The Book of Songs," which dates back to the 11th-7th centuries BCE. In this anthology of ancient Chinese poetry, the name Ling appears in several poems, often associated with beauty, grace, and natural elements.
In ancient Chinese philosophy and religion, the name Ling is also linked to the concept of "lingxi," which refers to the spiritual essence or energy that permeates all living beings and the universe. This association with spirituality and the natural world has given the name a mystical and poetic quality throughout its history.
The name Ling has also been borne by several notable figures in Chinese history. One of the most famous is Ling Lun (c. 673-746 CE), a renowned Buddhist monk and scholar who played a significant role in the development of the Huayan school of Buddhist philosophy. Another prominent individual was Ling Ren (1828-1903), a Qing dynasty official and reformer who advocated for modernization and westernization in China.
In Korean culture, the name Ling is also found, although it is less common. It can be written using different Hangul characters and may have meanings such as "jade" or "precious stone." One notable Korean figure with the name Ling was Ling Yun (1518-1604), a renowned Neo-Confucian scholar and writer during the Joseon dynasty.
Beyond Asia, the name Ling has also made its mark in other cultures and contexts. In the West, one of the most famous bearers of the name was Ling Woo (1905-1984), a Chinese-American actor and comedian who achieved fame in Hollywood during the 1930s and 1940s. His career helped break down stereotypes and paved the way for greater representation of Asian actors in American cinema.
Overall, the name Ling has a rich and diverse history, spanning across centuries and cultures. Its connections to nature, spirituality, and beauty have imbued it with a sense of depth and mystery, making it a name that continues to captivate and inspire.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Ling
People
Ling + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Ling as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with L
Other first names starting with L with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Ling: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Ling?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 207 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Ling 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 1,655,818 US residents.
Is Ling a common name?
We classify Ling as "Very Rare". It ranks above 74.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 215 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Ling most popular?
The single biggest year for Ling was 1981, when 13 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Ling is about 31 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Ling in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 7,064 people with the name Ling, or 2.34 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #3,111 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 Ling 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 Ling?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Ling leans strongly female. 6,076 people counted with this name were female (86.1%), compared with 981 male bearers (13.9%). 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 Ling?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Ling is Asian/Pacific Islander at 95.4%. The next largest groups are White (2.0%) and Hispanic (1.1%). 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 Ling most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Ling in the 2020 Census, accounting for 95.4% (6,742 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 Ling in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Ling a female name?
Yes, 91.6% of people registered as Ling in the SSA data are female. 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 Ling still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Ling 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 Ling 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 have Ling as a first name?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.