Shing
Meaning "prosperous", "bright", of Chinese origin.
Name Census estimates that about 10 living Americans carry the first name Shing. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 50.0% of registrations being female. The average person named Shing today is around 38 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Shing births was 1983 (5 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Shing. 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.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Shing. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
10
~ 1 in 34,275,434 Americans
Peak year
1983
5 babies that year
Average age
38
years old
1989 SSA rank
#9,032
Tracked since 1983
Census
Shing in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 606 people with the first name Shing, which placed it at #17,943 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
#17,943
National first-name rank
People counted
606
606 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
97.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Shing
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Shing is Asian/Pacific Islander at 97.7%. The next largest groups are Black (0.7%) and Hispanic (0.7%). 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 Shing 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 Shing at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander97.7% · 592
- Black or African American0.7% · 4
- Hispanic or Latino0.7% · 4
- White0.5% · 3
- Two or more races0.5% · 3
Gender
Gender distribution for Shing
Shing is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 10 total registrations, 5 (50.0%) were male and 5 (50.0%) were female.
Shing as a male name
- Ranked #9,032 in 1989
- 5 male births in 1989
- Peak: 1989 (5 births)
Shing as a female name
- Ranked #11,778 in 1983
- 5 female births in 1983
- Peak: 1983 (5 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Shing on both sides of the split. Of the 610 people counted with this name, 450 were male (73.8%) and 160 were female (26.2%).
Popularity
Shing: popularity over time
Babies born per year
Decades
Shing 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 Shing during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
| Decade | Male | Female | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1980s | 5 | 5 | 10 |
Origin
Meaning and history of Shing
The given name Shing has its origins in the Chinese language and culture, dating back to ancient times. It is believed to have derived from the Mandarin Chinese word "sheng," which means "to rise" or "to flourish." The name was likely given to children with the aspiration for them to rise and achieve success in life.
In ancient Chinese texts and historical records, the name Shing has been found in various literary works and official documents, suggesting its widespread use among the Chinese population. Some scholars believe that the name may have had a connection to Confucian values and teachings, which emphasized personal growth, virtue, and the pursuit of knowledge.
One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Shing can be traced back to the Han Dynasty (206 BC - 220 AD), where a prominent scholar and historian named Shing Pu (145 BC - 90 BC) lived. He is known for his contributions to the preservation of ancient Chinese literature and his historical writings.
Throughout Chinese history, several notable figures have borne the name Shing. In the Tang Dynasty (618 - 907 AD), Shing Haoran (683 - 737) was a renowned poet and calligrapher, celebrated for his elegant literary works and artistic pursuits. During the Song Dynasty (960 - 1279 AD), Shing Qing (998 - 1064) was a renowned philosopher and mathematician who made significant contributions to the development of Neo-Confucianism.
In more recent times, Shing Chung-chi (1644 - 1721) was a prominent Qing Dynasty scholar and official who played a crucial role in the compilation of the "Siku Quanshu," one of the most comprehensive literary collections in Chinese history. Another notable figure was Shing Tao (1891 - 1967), a Chinese revolutionary and politician who served as the first Premier of the Republic of China.
Shing has also been a prominent name in the field of martial arts. Shing Gu (1856 - 1928) was a renowned martial artist and teacher who helped popularize the Shaolin Kung Fu style in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. His teachings and techniques continue to influence martial arts practitioners to this day.
People
Shing + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Shing 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
Shing: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Shing?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 10 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Shing 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 34,275,434 US residents.
Is Shing a common name?
We classify Shing as "Very Rare". It ranks above 28.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 10 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Shing most popular?
The single biggest year for Shing was 1983, when 5 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Shing is about 38 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Shing in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 606 people with the name Shing, or 0.20 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #17,943 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 Shing 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 Shing?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Shing on both sides of the split. Of the 610 people counted with this name, 450 were male (73.8%) and 160 were female (26.2%). 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 Shing?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Shing is Asian/Pacific Islander at 97.7%. The next largest groups are Black (0.7%) and Hispanic (0.7%). 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 Shing most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Shing in the 2020 Census, accounting for 97.7% (592 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 Shing in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Shing a female name?
Yes, 50.0% of people registered as Shing 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 Shing still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Shing 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 Shing 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 common is the name Shing?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many Americans are named Shing at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.