Sheng
A Chinese name meaning victory, prosperity, or flourishing.
Name Census estimates that about 370 living Americans carry the first name Sheng. It is a predominantly female name (95.9% of registrations). The average person named Sheng today is around 35 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Sheng births was 1985 (29 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Sheng. 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 Sheng with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
370
~ 1 in 926,363 Americans
Peak year
1985
29 babies that year
Average age
35
years old
2016 SSA rank
#13,888
Tracked since 1980
Census
Sheng in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 2,992 people with the first name Sheng, which placed it at #5,651 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
#5,651
National first-name rank
People counted
3.0K
2,992 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
1.0
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
97.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Sheng
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Sheng is Asian/Pacific Islander at 97.4%. The next largest groups are White (1.7%) and Black (0.3%). 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 Sheng 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 Sheng at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander97.4% · 2,913
- White1.7% · 52
- Black or African American0.3% · 10
- Two or more races0.3% · 9
- Hispanic or Latino0.3% · 8
Gender
Gender distribution for Sheng
Sheng leans heavily female at 95.9% of total registrations, but 16 boys have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Sheng as a male name
- Ranked #13,888 in 2016
- 5 male births in 2016
- Peak: 1985 (6 births)
Sheng as a female name
- Ranked #19,610 in 2006
- 5 female births in 2006
- Peak: 1989 (28 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Sheng on both sides of the split. Of the 2,994 people counted with this name, 1,909 were male (63.8%) and 1,085 were female (36.2%).
Popularity
Sheng: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Sheng from the 1980s through to the 2010s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 178 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
Sheng 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 Sheng during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Shengs live
The SSA's state-level files cover 3 states and territories. California, Minnesota, Wisconsin recorded the most babies named Sheng, while Wisconsin, Minnesota, California recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 73 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Sheng
The name Sheng originates from the Chinese language and has its roots in ancient Chinese culture and history. It is a single-character name written as 盛 in traditional Chinese characters.
The character 盛 has a literal meaning of "prosperous," "flourishing," or "abundant." It is often associated with ideas of prosperity, success, and abundance in Chinese culture. The name Sheng can be traced back to ancient Chinese texts and records from as early as the Shang Dynasty (c. 1600–1046 BC).
One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Sheng can be found in the Chinese classic text, the Analects of Confucius, which mentions a person named Sheng Zan. Sheng Zan was a disciple of Confucius and lived during the 5th century BC.
Throughout Chinese history, several notable figures have borne the name Sheng. One of the most famous was Sheng Xuanhuai (598–649 AD), a prominent Chinese painter and calligrapher of the Tang Dynasty. His works were highly influential and helped shape the development of Chinese art.
Another notable figure was Sheng Yue (1042–1107 AD), a prominent Neo-Confucian philosopher and scholar of the Song Dynasty. He made significant contributions to the development of Neo-Confucian thought and was known for his works on ethics and moral philosophy.
In more recent times, Sheng Xuanhuai (1844–1916) was a Chinese statesman and diplomat who served as the Qing Dynasty's ambassador to several European countries, including Russia and France. He played a crucial role in modernizing China's diplomatic relations with the West.
Sheng Chengji (1874–1922) was a renowned Chinese entrepreneur and industrialist who founded the Dasheng Cotton Mill, one of the largest textile companies in modern Chinese history. He was instrumental in the development of China's modern industry and commerce.
These are just a few examples of notable historical figures who have borne the name Sheng, showcasing its deep roots and significance in Chinese culture and history.
People
Sheng + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Sheng as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with S
Other first names starting with S with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Sheng: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Sheng?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 370 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Sheng 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 926,363 US residents.
Is Sheng a common name?
We classify Sheng as "Very Rare". It ranks above 81.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 386 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Sheng most popular?
The single biggest year for Sheng was 1985, when 29 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Sheng is about 35 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Sheng in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 2,992 people with the name Sheng, or 0.99 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #5,651 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 Sheng 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 Sheng?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Sheng on both sides of the split. Of the 2,994 people counted with this name, 1,909 were male (63.8%) and 1,085 were female (36.2%). 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 Sheng?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Sheng is Asian/Pacific Islander at 97.4%. The next largest groups are White (1.7%) and Black (0.3%). 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 Sheng most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Sheng in the 2020 Census, accounting for 97.4% (2,913 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 Sheng in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Sheng a female name?
Yes, 95.9% of people registered as Sheng 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 Sheng still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Sheng 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 Sheng 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 named Sheng?
Find out how many Americans are named Sheng on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.