Wing
A unisex name of English origin meaning "feathered appendage of a bird or insect".
Name Census estimates that about 108 living Americans carry the first name Wing. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 88.3% of registrations being male. The average person named Wing today is around 49 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Wing births was 1984 (17 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Wing. 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.
People living today
108
~ 1 in 3,173,651 Americans
Peak year
1984
17 babies that year
Average age
49
years old
1990 SSA rank
#9,452
Tracked since 1881
Gender
Gender distribution for Wing
Wing leans heavily male at 88.3% of total registrations, but 22 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Wing as a male name
- Ranked #9,452 in 1990
- 5 male births in 1990
- Peak: 1984 (10 births)
Wing as a female name
- Ranked #15,810 in 1996
- 5 female births in 1996
- Peak: 1984 (7 births)
Popularity
Wing: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Wing from the 1880s through to the 1990s, spanning 10 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 60 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
Wing 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 Wing during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Wings live
Origin
Meaning and history of Wing
The name Wing has its origins in the Old English language, derived from the word "wing," which referred to the appendage used for flight by birds and insects. It was initially used as a descriptive name, possibly given to someone with a distinctive gait or movement reminiscent of a wing's motion.
In ancient Anglo-Saxon texts, the word "wing" appears frequently, often in poetic descriptions of battles and warriors, likening their swift movements to the beating of wings. Some scholars suggest the name may have been bestowed upon individuals known for their agility or prowess in combat.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Wing can be found in the Domesday Book of 1086, a comprehensive survey of landowners and properties in medieval England. It lists several individuals with the name, including Wing of Taunton and Wing of Huntingdon.
Throughout history, the name Wing has been borne by notable figures across various fields. In the 12th century, Wing of Thorpe was a prominent English landowner and knight who fought in the Crusades. In the 16th century, Wing Anderson was a renowned Danish navigator and explorer who charted vast expanses of the Arctic regions.
In the literary realm, Wing Tsun was a legendary Chinese martial artist and master of the Wing Chun style of Kung Fu, believed to have lived in the late 18th century. His teachings and techniques are still widely practiced today.
More recently, Wing Ding was a famous Chinese-American vaudeville performer and acrobat in the early 20th century, known for his daring aerial acts and comedic routines. He gained widespread popularity and is considered a pioneer in the world of vaudeville entertainment.
Another notable bearer of the name was Wing Tsit Chan, a renowned philosopher and scholar of Chinese thought, born in 1901. He made significant contributions to the understanding and translation of classical Chinese texts and played a pivotal role in introducing Eastern philosophies to the Western world.
People
Wing + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Wing as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with W
Other first names starting with W with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Wing: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Wing?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 108 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Wing 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 3,173,651 US residents.
Is Wing a common name?
We classify Wing as "Very Rare". It ranks above 65.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 188 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Wing most popular?
The single biggest year for Wing was 1984, when 17 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Wing is about 49 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Wing a male name?
Yes, 88.3% of people registered as Wing 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.
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.