Meilin
A Chinese name meaning "beautiful, elegant orchid".
Name Census estimates that about 327 living Americans carry the first name Meilin. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Meilin today is around 16 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Meilin births was 2010 (22 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Meilin. 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 Meilin with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
327
~ 1 in 1,048,178 Americans
Peak year
2010
22 babies that year
Average age
16
years old
2024 SSA rank
#7,112
Tracked since 1986
Census
Meilin in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,012 people with the first name Meilin, which placed it at #12,335 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
#12,335
National first-name rank
People counted
1.0K
1,012 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
67.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Meilin
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Meilin is Asian/Pacific Islander at 67.2%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (20.3%) and Two or More Races (7.7%). 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 Meilin 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 Meilin at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander67.2% · 680
- Hispanic or Latino20.3% · 205
- Two or more races7.7% · 78
- White3.5% · 35
- Black or African American1.4% · 14
Popularity
Meilin: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Meilin from the 1980s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 120 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Meilin remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Meilin 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 Meilin during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Meilins live
Origin
Meaning and history of Meilin
Meilin is a Chinese given name that has its origins in the Mandarin Chinese language. The name can be traced back to ancient China, where it was first recorded during the Tang Dynasty (618-907 AD). It is believed to be derived from the Chinese words "mei," meaning "plum blossom," and "lin," meaning "forest" or "woods."
The name Meilin was initially associated with the beauty and elegance of plum blossoms, which were highly revered in Chinese culture. The plum blossom is one of the four noble plants in Chinese tradition, symbolizing resilience, perseverance, and the ability to thrive in harsh conditions. As such, the name Meilin carried connotations of strength, grace, and endurance.
One of the earliest known references to the name Meilin can be found in the classic Chinese novel "Dream of the Red Chamber" (also known as "The Story of the Stone"), written during the Qing Dynasty (1644-1912). In this literary masterpiece, Meilin is the name of a minor character, a maidservant in the wealthy Jia household.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Meilin. One of the earliest recorded examples is Meilin Zhang (1055-1114), a renowned female poet and calligrapher during the Song Dynasty. Her poems and calligraphic works are highly regarded and have been preserved in various anthologies.
Another historical figure with the name Meilin was Meilin Yan (1816-1885), a Chinese scholar and official who served as a governor during the Qing Dynasty. He was known for his contributions to education and his efforts to reform the imperial examination system.
In more recent times, Meilin Chan (1925-2015) was a celebrated Hong Kong-born actress and singer who appeared in numerous Cantonese films and television shows throughout her career, which spanned over six decades.
Meilin Zhu (born 1984) is a contemporary Chinese painter and multimedia artist whose works have been exhibited in galleries and museums around the world. Her art often explores themes of identity, cultural heritage, and the intersection of tradition and modernity.
Meilin Hao (1958-2019) was a Chinese entrepreneur and philanthropist who co-founded the successful technology company Lenovo. She played a crucial role in the company's growth and expansion, and was recognized for her business acumen and philanthropic efforts.
People
Meilin + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Meilin as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with M
Other first names starting with M with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Meilin: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Meilin?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 327 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Meilin 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 1,048,178 US residents.
Is Meilin a common name?
We classify Meilin as "Very Rare". It ranks above 80.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 331 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Meilin most popular?
The single biggest year for Meilin was 2010, when 22 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Meilin is about 16 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Meilin in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,012 people with the name Meilin, or 0.34 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #12,335 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 Meilin 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 Meilin?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Meilin leans strongly female. 990 people counted with this name were female (97.4%), compared with 26 male bearers (2.6%). 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 Meilin?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Meilin is Asian/Pacific Islander at 67.2%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (20.3%) and Two or More Races (7.7%). 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 Meilin most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Meilin in the 2020 Census, accounting for 67.2% (680 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 Meilin in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Meilin a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Meilin 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 Meilin still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Meilin 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 Meilin 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 are called Meilin?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.