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

Singh, 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 Singh surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Singh in America

Singh is the 260th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Singh surname appeared 116,749 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 40 people would have the surname Singh.

We can also compare 2010 data for Singh 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 Singh

The surname Singh has its origins in the northern Indian subcontinent, particularly in the Punjab region. It is a title derived from the Sanskrit word 'Simha', which means lion. The name first emerged around the 16th century during the reign of the Mughal Empire in India.

Singh was initially adopted as a title by the Sikhs, who were followers of Guru Nanak, the founder of Sikhism. The title was bestowed upon those who embraced the Sikh way of life, symbolizing courage, strength, and spiritual enlightenment. Over time, Singh became a hereditary surname within the Sikh community.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Singh can be found in the writings of Guru Gobind Singh, the tenth and last human Guru of the Sikhs, who lived from 1666 to 1708. He decreed that all Sikh men should adopt the surname Singh as a mark of their identity and commitment to the Sikh faith.

Notable figures who bore the surname Singh include Maharaja Ranjit Singh, the powerful ruler of the Sikh Empire in the early 19th century, who consolidated and expanded his territories across the Punjab region. Another prominent figure was Bhagat Singh, a revolutionary socialist and influential figure in India's struggle for independence from British rule, who lived from 1907 to 1931.

Among the Sikh gurus, Guru Arjan Singh, the fifth Sikh Guru (1563-1606), and Guru Tegh Bahadur Singh, the ninth Sikh Guru (1621-1675), were instrumental in shaping the Sikh faith and its teachings.

Beyond the Sikh community, the name Singh has also been adopted by other communities in the Indian subcontinent, particularly in the northern regions. Prominent figures with the surname Singh include Jai Singh II, a Rajput king and mathematician from the early 18th century, known for his contributions to astronomy and the construction of the Jantar Mantar observatories.

While the surname Singh has its roots in the Indian subcontinent, it has now spread globally due to migration and the Sikh diaspora. However, its historical significance remains closely tied to the Sikh faith and the valor and courage associated with the lion.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Singh

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

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

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

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