Sing
A Chinese unisex name meaning "saint" or "sage".
Name Census estimates that about 27 living Americans carry the first name Sing. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 89.1% of registrations being male. The average person named Sing today is around 36 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Sing births was 1905 (10 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Sing. 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 Sing with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Sing. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
27
~ 1 in 12,694,605 Americans
Peak year
1905
10 babies that year
Average age
36
years old
2021 SSA rank
#11,898
Tracked since 1890
Census
Sing in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 886 people with the first name Sing, which placed it at #13,580 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
#13,580
National first-name rank
People counted
886
886 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
92.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Sing
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Sing is Asian/Pacific Islander at 92.6%. The next largest groups are White (3.5%) and Hispanic (1.6%). 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 Sing 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 Sing at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander92.6% · 820
- White3.5% · 31
- Hispanic or Latino1.6% · 14
- Black or African American1.1% · 10
- Two or more races1.0% · 9
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.2% · 2
Gender
Gender distribution for Sing
Sing leans heavily male at 89.1% of total registrations, but 5 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Sing as a male name
- Ranked #11,921 in 2021
- 6 male births in 2021
- Peak: 1905 (10 births)
Sing as a female name
- Ranked #11,898 in 1980
- 5 female births in 1980
- Peak: 1980 (5 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Sing on both sides of the split. Of the 886 people counted with this name, 673 were male (76.0%) and 213 were female (24.0%).
Popularity
Sing: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Sing from the 1890s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 22 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
Sing 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 Sing during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Sing
The name Sing has its origins in the Tamil language, spoken primarily in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and the northern and eastern provinces of Sri Lanka. The name is derived from the Tamil word "singam," which means "lion" or "brave."
In ancient Tamil culture, the lion was revered as a symbol of strength, courage, and royalty. Parents often gave their children names associated with lions, hoping they would embody these qualities. The name Sing likely emerged as a shortened version of Singam or a variation of it.
One of the earliest recorded mentions of the name Sing can be found in the Tamil epic Silappadikaram, written around the 5th or 6th century CE. The epic features a character named Singen, which is a variant of Sing. This suggests that the name was in use during the early centuries of the common era in the Tamil region.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the name Sing. One of the most famous was Sing Swamimalai (1516-1580), a Tamil philosopher and spiritual leader who wrote extensively on Shaivite philosophy and is revered as a saint in the Tamil tradition.
Another prominent figure was Sing Hillingdon (1819-1891), a British politician and industrialist who served as the Member of Parliament for West Derbyshire from 1857 to 1868. He was also the founder of the Hillingdon Estates, a successful real estate and property development company.
In the 20th century, Sing Sheng (1901-1965) was a prominent Chinese scholar and calligrapher. He was renowned for his mastery of the cursive script and his contributions to the preservation of traditional Chinese calligraphy.
More recently, Sing Tao (born 1935) is a Malaysian-born Hong Kong businessman and philanthropist. He is the founder of the Sing Tao Daily, one of the largest Chinese-language newspapers in Hong Kong, and has been involved in various charitable endeavors.
Another notable figure is Sing Parinya (born 1981), a Thai boxer and actress who gained international recognition for her success in the Muay Thai ring and her advocacy for transgender rights. She was the subject of the acclaimed 2003 film "Beautiful Boxer," which chronicled her life and struggles as a transgender athlete.
While these are just a few examples, the name Sing has a rich history and has been borne by individuals from diverse cultural and professional backgrounds, reflecting its enduring appeal and the strength and bravery it symbolizes.
People
Sing + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Sing 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
Sing: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Sing?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 27 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Sing 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 12,694,605 US residents.
Is Sing a common name?
We classify Sing as "Very Rare". It ranks above 44.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 46 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Sing most popular?
The single biggest year for Sing was 1905, when 10 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Sing is about 36 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Sing in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 886 people with the name Sing, or 0.29 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #13,580 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 Sing 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 Sing?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Sing on both sides of the split. Of the 886 people counted with this name, 673 were male (76.0%) and 213 were female (24.0%). 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 Sing?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Sing is Asian/Pacific Islander at 92.6%. The next largest groups are White (3.5%) and Hispanic (1.6%). 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 Sing most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Sing in the 2020 Census, accounting for 92.6% (820 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 Sing in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Sing a male name?
Yes, 89.1% of people registered as Sing 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.
Is Sing still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Sing 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 Sing 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 Sing as a first name?
For a quick modern take, check how many Americans are named Sing on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.