Find out how popular the last name Chieng is in the United States and learn more about the meaning, history, and race and ethnic origin of people in America who are named Chieng.

Chieng, like all of the last names we have data for, is identified by the U.S. Census Bureau as a surname which has more than 100 occurrences in the United States in the Decennial Census survey. The most recent statistics we have for the Chieng surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Chieng in America

Chieng is the 50275th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Chieng surname appeared 416 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 0 people would have the surname Chieng.

We can also compare 2010 data for Chieng to data from the previous census in 2000. The table below contains all of the statistics for both years in a side-by-side comparison.

The history of the last name Chieng

The surname CHIENG originated in China, likely appearing first during the Tang Dynasty (618-907 AD). It is derived from the Cantonese pronunciation of the Chinese characters 張, which can also be romanized as Zhang or Chang. These characters together mean "spread out" or "extend".

Early records show variations in spelling like Chieng, Chiange, and Chiangge appearing in southern Chinese regions like Guangdong and Guangxi during the Song Dynasty (960-1279 AD). The name may have roots in these areas before families spread throughout China over the centuries.

One of the earliest known references is a Zhang Chieng who was a scholar and minor official recorded in local archives from Guangdong province around 1150 AD. Another early figure was Qiu Chieng (1198-1271), a renowned Neo-Confucian philosopher from Guangdong.

By the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644 AD), the Chieng spelling was seen across southeast China. Notable people included the merchant Hu Chieng (1432-1495) who helped establish maritime trade routes, and the artist Wu Chieng (1459-1508) who painted landscapes.

During the Qing Dynasty (1644-1912), the surname spread further as Chieng families relocated. Wang Chieng (1725-1806) was an influential Qing scholar and educator originally from Guangdong. Liang Chieng (1753-1835) was a high-ranking Qing official involved in reforming the imperial examinations.

As people migrated abroad in the 19th and early 20th centuries, the surname CHIENG was carried to Southeast Asia, North America, and other regions with overseas Chinese communities. Notable modern examples include the Malaysian businessman Robert Kuok Chieng (1923-2022) and American comedian Ronny Chieng (1985-).

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Chieng

We also have some data on the ancestry of people with the surname Chieng.

The below race categories are the modified race categories used in the Census Bureau's population estimates program. All people were categorized into six mutually exclusive racial and Hispanic origin groups:

1. White only
2. Black only
3. American Indian and Alaskan Native only
4. Asian and Pacific Islander only
5. Hispanic
6. Two or More Races

For the most recent 2010 census data, the race/ethnic origin breakdown for Chieng was:

Note: Any fields showing (S) means the data was suppressed for privacy so that the data does not in any way identify any specific individuals.

Since we have data from the previous census in 2000, we can also compare the values to see how the popularity of Chieng has changed in the 10 years between the two census surveys.

Data source

The last name data and ethnic breakdown of last names is sourced directly from the Decennial Census survey, conducted every 10 years by the United States Census Bureau.

The history and meaning of the name Chieng was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

If you have a correction or suggestion to improve the history of Chieng, please contact us.

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