Ying
A feminine Chinese name meaning "flower, petals, elite, or luminous".
Name Census estimates that about 385 living Americans carry the first name Ying. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 65.0% of registrations being female. The average person named Ying today is around 35 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Ying births was 1989 (25 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Ying. 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 Ying with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
385
~ 1 in 890,271 Americans
Peak year
1989
25 babies that year
Average age
35
years old
1998 SSA rank
#11,290
Tracked since 1980
Census
Ying in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 15,164 people with the first name Ying, which placed it at #1,889 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
#1,889
National first-name rank
People counted
15K
15,164 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
5.0
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
98.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Ying
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Ying is Asian/Pacific Islander at 98.1%. The next largest groups are White (1.0%) and Two or More Races (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 Ying 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 Ying at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander98.1% · 14,870
- White1.0% · 158
- Two or more races0.3% · 49
- Black or African American0.3% · 46
- Hispanic or Latino0.2% · 37
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.0% · 4
Gender
Gender distribution for Ying
Ying is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 400 total registrations, 140 (35.0%) were male and 260 (65.0%) were female.
Ying as a male name
- Ranked #11,290 in 1998
- 5 male births in 1998
- Peak: 1987 (12 births)
Ying as a female name
- Ranked #17,230 in 2009
- 6 female births in 2009
- Peak: 1992 (16 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Ying leans strongly female. 12,949 people counted with this name were female (85.4%), compared with 2,217 male bearers (14.6%).
Popularity
Ying: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Ying from the 1980s through to the 2000s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 188 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1980s peak, Ying remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Ying 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 Ying during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Yings live
The SSA's state-level files cover 4 states and territories. California, New York, Minnesota recorded the most babies named Ying, while Wisconsin, Minnesota, New York recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 29 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Ying
Ying is a Chinese given name with a long and rich history dating back to ancient times. The name is derived from the Chinese character "瑩" which means "bright" or "luminous". It is believed to have originated during the Zhou Dynasty (1046 BC - 256 BC) when it was used to describe the radiant beauty of gemstones and pearls.
In ancient Chinese literature, the name Ying appears in several notable works. One of the earliest mentions is found in the Classic of Poetry, a collection of ancient Chinese poems and songs compiled around the 6th century BC. The name is also referenced in the Analects, a collection of sayings and teachings attributed to the philosopher Confucius (551 BC - 479 BC).
Throughout Chinese history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the name Ying. One of the earliest recorded examples is Ying Qu (fl. 500 BC), a renowned Confucian philosopher and scholar during the Spring and Autumn period. Another famous bearer of the name was Ying Zheng (259 BC - 210 BC), the first emperor of the Qin Dynasty who unified China and established the Great Wall.
During the Tang Dynasty (618 AD - 907 AD), a prominent figure named Ying Xingzhi (fl. 650 AD) was a celebrated calligrapher and poet. She is known for her exceptional calligraphic skills and her contributions to the development of the cursive script.
In more recent times, one of the most renowned individuals with the name Ying was Ying Chen (1916 - 2017), a renowned Chinese physicist who made significant contributions to the field of nuclear physics. She was the first female president of the Chinese Physical Society and played a crucial role in the development of China's nuclear program.
Another notable figure was Ying Li (1925 - 1994), a Chinese composer and musician who is considered one of the pioneers of modern Chinese music. His compositions blended traditional Chinese elements with Western influences, creating a unique and influential style.
These are just a few examples of the many notable individuals throughout history who have borne the name Ying. The name's association with brightness and radiance has endured for centuries, making it a popular choice for parents seeking a name with a rich cultural heritage and positive connotations.
People
Ying + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Ying as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with Y
Other first names starting with Y with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Ying: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Ying?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 385 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Ying 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 890,271 US residents.
Is Ying a common name?
We classify Ying as "Very Rare". It ranks above 81.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 400 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Ying most popular?
The single biggest year for Ying was 1989, when 25 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Ying 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 Ying in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 15,164 people with the name Ying, or 5.02 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #1,889 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 Ying 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 Ying?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Ying leans strongly female. 12,949 people counted with this name were female (85.4%), compared with 2,217 male bearers (14.6%). 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 Ying?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Ying is Asian/Pacific Islander at 98.1%. The next largest groups are White (1.0%) and Two or More Races (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 Ying most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Ying in the 2020 Census, accounting for 98.1% (14,870 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 Ying in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Ying a female name?
Yes, 65.0% of people registered as Ying 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 Ying still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Ying 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 Ying 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 Ying?
You can see how many Americans are named Ying on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.