Sheng
Torn between Sheng and another name? Compare them side by side →
Meaning
varies by character: 盛, 'flourishing', 圣/聖, 'holy', or 胜/勝, 'victory', among others; romanization alone does not determine meaning or gender
The story
Sheng is a Chinese name whose meaning cannot be read from Latin letters alone. It may represent 圣 or 聖, holy; 胜 or 勝, victory; 盛, flourishing; or other characters with the same romanization. Those choices can appear in names of women and men, and the family’s written character is the evidence that matters. Comedian, actor, and writer Sheng Wang is a visible American bearer, but his official biography does not publish the Chinese character for his given name, so it cannot be used to assign him one of these meanings. The US curve shows only small traces in the 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s, then no measurable signal in the last two plotted decades. That says little about Chinese use. Sheng is concise in English, but its complete story remains written in Chinese.
How popular is Sheng around the world?
In the United States, Sheng is not on the Social Security record for 2020 to 2025: names under 5 in a year are withheld at source. In Spain, 186 residents are named Sheng, ranked 4,924th among men, with a mean age of 35.2 years.
Sheng is on the official records of Spain and Brazil.
United States
under 5 a year
In the United States, Sheng is not on the Social Security record for 2020 to 2025: names under 5 in a year are withheld at source.
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Sheng has stayed rare in US records the whole time: no peak decade to name.
Births with a Social Security record. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration
Spain
1 in 240,000
In Spain, 186 residents are named Sheng, ranked 4,924th among men, with a mean age of 35.2 years.
Residents of Spain on 1 January 2025. Spain publishes how old a name’s living bearers are, not a birth series, so there is no year chart. Source: INE (Spain), Censo de Población anual, 1 January 2025
Brazil
At the 2022 census, 42 people in Brazil were named Sheng, ranked 74,979th, with a median age of 38.
People alive and resident in Brazil at the 2022 census, a living-population count, not births; names under 20 are withheld at source. Source: IBGE, Censo Demográfico 2022
England and Wales
last on record 2010
Sheng is not on the 2025 record for England and Wales, where spellings under 3 in a year are withheld at source.
The count never rose above 7 in a year, too few to chart.
Birth registrations in England and Wales (not the whole UK); exact spellings are counted separately, and any spelling under 3 in a year is withheld at source. Source: Office for National Statistics, baby names in England and Wales
South Australia
last on record 2013
Sheng is not on the 2017 record for South Australia, whose registry publishes every name given that year.
The count never rose above 1 in a year, too few to chart.
Births registered in South Australia (not all of Australia) by first name and year of registration, 1944–2017, from the state’s Births, Deaths and Marriages registry, which publishes every name down to a single birth in capitals; a spelling its export repeats inside a year is counted once, and from 2018 only a top 100 is published, so the series ends at 2017. Source: Consumer and Business Services (South Australia), popular baby names
Not on the record in Mexico City, Argentina, Puerto Rico, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, Scotland and Poland: those registries withhold small counts, so rare uses may sit below their floors.
Not on the Chile record: nametree keeps spellings that reached 5 registrations in some year, so rarer uses are not shown. Not on the Montevideo record for 1940 to 2011: that registry withholds nothing, so this spelling was not given there in those years. Not on the France record: nametree keeps spellings that reached 20 births in some year, so rarer uses are not shown. Not on the Austria record for 1984 to 2025: Statistik Austria publishes every first name down to a single birth, so this name was not given there in those years (before 2010 the record covers babies with Austrian citizenship only). Not on Norway’s list: Statistics Norway lists only first names carried by 200 or more living people, so rarer names are not shown.
When you meet Sheng
Most people given the name Sheng in the United States were born between 1980 and 1999. The Sheng you meet today is most often in their 20s or 30s.
Estimated from US Social Security birth registrations and typical lifespans; a rough guide, not a rule.
Keep exploring
The Sheng deep dive
Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Sheng 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 Sheng fits with your family’s names and surname.
Does Sheng fit YOUR family?
nametree reads your family’s names and finds the ones that belong. Free, private, no ads.
Add Sheng to your family’s tree →