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

Ching, 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 Ching surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Ching in America

Ching is the 4772nd most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Ching surname appeared 7,417 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 3 people would have the surname Ching.

We can also compare 2010 data for Ching 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 Ching

The surname "CHING" originates from China and can be traced back to the Tang Dynasty (618-907 AD). It is a romanized spelling of the Chinese surname 程, which is pronounced "Chéng" in Mandarin Chinese. The name is believed to have derived from the ancient Chinese word "程程" (chéng chéng), meaning "step by step" or "gradually".

The earliest recorded instance of the surname can be found in historical records from the Tang Dynasty, where it was associated with several prominent figures. One notable example is Cheng Hao (1032-1085), a renowned Neo-Confucian philosopher and scholar who hailed from the city of Zhenjiang in present-day Jiangsu Province.

During the Song Dynasty (960-1279 AD), the Ching surname was also found in various local gazetteers and genealogical records. One such record mentions a Ching family residing in the town of Xiushui, located in present-day Zhejiang Province.

In the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644 AD), the Ching surname gained further prominence with Ching Shih (1775-1844), a famous female pirate who commanded a formidable fleet in the South China Sea. She was born in Guangdong Province and is regarded as one of the most successful pirates in history.

Another notable figure with the Ching surname was Ching Ling (1890-1981), the second wife of Sun Yat-sen, the revolutionary leader who played a pivotal role in the overthrow of the Qing Dynasty and the establishment of the Republic of China. Ching Ling was an influential political figure and advocate for women's rights in her own right.

In the realm of literature, Ching Hsin (1900-1933) was a prominent Chinese poet and essayist who was part of the influential Crescent Moon Society, a literary movement in the early 20th century. His works explored themes of modernism and individualism.

Throughout history, variations in the romanized spelling of the surname have existed, such as "Cheng," "Chung," and "Chong." These variations can often be attributed to different dialects or regional pronunciations of the original Chinese characters.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Ching

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

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 Ching 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 Ching 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 Ching was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

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

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