Ming
Meaning
bright (明); the workhorse syllable of Cantonese boys' names, already the second half of Siu-Ming, Ka-Ming and Ho-Ming in this collection, and long used on its own in Cantonese America
Popularity, 1890–2024
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Ming has stayed rare in US records the whole time: no peak decade to name.
See popularity in Brazil
Popularity in Brazil
106 people · the #39,630 first name in Brazil · about 1 in 1,000,000 · median age 42
Among people named Ming living in Brazil at the 2022 census, more were born in the 1980s than in any other decade.
Source: IBGE, Censo Demográfico 2022
When you meet Ming
Most people given the name Ming in the United States were born between 1980 and 2009. The Ming you meet today is most often in his 20s or 30s.
Estimated from US Social Security birth registrations and typical lifespans; a rough guide, not a rule.
The Ming deep dive
Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Ming truly comes from, how it traveled, and what a century of records reveals. If you have grown a tree on nametree, it also considers how Ming fits with your family’s names and surname.
Where Ming travels
Chinese American · bright, brilliant (明); a pinyin name increasingly chosen outright as an American given name
Chinese · bright, brilliant (明)
Keep exploring
Chinese baby names · Chinese American baby names · Cantonese and Hong Kong baby names · Short names
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