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Ling

UnisexGirls' nameBoys' name

Spirit, soul

Ling has been given to 215 babies in the U.S. since 1977. It was used fewer than 5 times in 2025, so it doesn't appear in the latest year's list — today it's a genuinely uncommon pick. Its peak year was 1981, with 13 recorded. It's used for both sexes: 92% girls, 8% boys all-time.

Babies named Ling, 2024

1 in 478,000

Ling over time, 1880–2025

GirlsBoys
05101518801900192019401960198020002020

Based on births in the U.S. Babies given the name each year. Hover the chart — or focus it and use the arrow keys — for any year. Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Girls or boys — Ling over time

In 2024, Ling went to 100% girls and 0% boys.

19772024

A sex is only published in years it reached five applications, so a stretch at 0% or 100% means the other side stayed under that floor — not that it was never used.

Ling: meaning, origin, and history

Spirit, soul

Deeper origin not confirmed in the cited records

What Ling means

Ling means “spirit, soul”.

Documented naming usage and pronunciation

Ling is used in Chinese.

Another recorded pronunciation is /liŋ/ for Ling.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 197 girls were recorded with the name Ling between 1977 and 2024. Its highest annual count was 13 in 1981; its best national rank was #5,446 in 1981.

In the United States, 18 boys were recorded with the name Ling between 1982 and 1991. Its highest annual count was 7 in 1991; its best national rank was #6,092 in 1982.

Sources & methodologyReferences, data & attribution

Meaning, origin, and language notes draw on the references below.

American popularity figures use published Social Security Administration records for this exact spelling. Counts below five for a name, sex, and year are omitted.

How common is Ling?

Ling had fewer than 5 recorded uses in 2025, so these figures use 2024, the last year it was published.

Among all babies, 2024
1 in 478,000
7 of 3,342,801 births
Among girls only
1 in 231,000
<0.01% of girls
Rank, 2024
Unranked
Fewer than 5 uses
Coin-flip room size
331,009 kids
Even odds of a second one

Where Ling sits on the popularity scale

Rarest published (5 a year)#1 — Olivia (13,544)

Chance at least one other child shares the name

If the other children were drawn at random from the 2024 national name distribution. Real classrooms cluster by region and community, so treat these as a floor, not a ceiling.

Class of 20Under 1%
Class of 30Under 1%
Grade of 100Under 1%
School of 500Under 1%

Put another way: gather 331,009 children born in 2024 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Ling. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Lings were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Ling was born before 1992 — so the typical Ling is around 33 today.

Median birth year
1992
About 33 years old
Biggest decade
1980s
38.1% of all use
Born in the last 25 years
35.5%
Spread across generations
Recorded since 1950
197
People you could plausibly meet
Choose a decade

1980s — 38.1% of all recorded uses (75).

Is Ling rising or falling?

Rank movement and count movement can disagree — the number of distinct names in use keeps growing, so a name holding a steady count still slides down the list. Both are shown.

Rank vs 1 year ago
—
Not ranked then
Rank vs 5 years ago
New entry
Not ranked then
Rank vs 10 years ago
—
Not ranked then
Births vs 10 years ago
—
Not published both years
Share of its own peak
0%
Peak was 1981 (13)
Years since peak
44
Years
Year-to-year steadiness
Shifting
24.6% average annual change
Best rank ever
#5,446
1981

Spellings of Ling

Ling is not the most common spelling — Linda is, with 35.2% against Ling's <0.01%.

Grouped by closeness of spelling (up to two letter changes), same sex, with a floor on all-time use. It catches Sophia/Sofia and Aiden/Ayden, and misses spellings that sound alike but look different, like Sean and Shawn.

Where Ling is used

Across 1910–2025, Ling was most concentrated in California — about 1 in — girls, against 1 in 919,973 across all states with data. It was least common in New York (1 in —).

00 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1California1 in —
  2. 2New York1 in —

Shading is the share of that state's recorded girls given this name, not the raw count — otherwise the map would just show which states are biggest. Unshaded states have no published records for this period. U.S. birth records suppress state-year counts below 5; state counts therefore don't add up to the national total. Every state links to its full rankings. Ling has too little recent state data to map, so this covers all years from 1910.

Ling around the world

Where Ling ranks in official birth records elsewhere in the world. Rankings only — the number of births isn’t comparable between places, so it isn’t shown.

  • England & Wales
    2006–2015
    #4,736
    in 2015
  • France
    1985–2014
    #6,700
    in 2014
  • South Australia
    1969–2013
    #818
    in 2013

Popularity data from Office for National Statistics, Institut national de la statistique et des études économiques and Consumer and Business Services (South Australia). ONS data under Open Government Licence v3.0. INSEE data under Licence Ouverte / Etalab 2.0. CBS SA data under CC BY 4.0.

Ling by the numbers

The raw record for each sex the name is used for.

As a girl's name

Rank in 2025
Unranked
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
—
Best rank ever
#5,446
1981
Peak year
1981
13 that year
First recorded
1977
Last recorded
2024
All-time count
197
Count in 2025
Under 5

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025
Unranked
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
—
Best rank ever
#6,092
1982
Peak year
1991
7 that year
First recorded
1982
Last recorded
1991
All-time count
18
Count in 2025
Under 5

Names similar to Ling

Matched on shared beginnings and endings, similar length, and comparable popularity.

LincyLinsyLinahLinleeLindLinhLineaLinkynLindeeLindieLinzyLinnaeaLinCingLindiLinnYingLindzyLindeLindeyMingLinethLinsiLinen

Sibling names for Ling

Names from the same era and popularity tier — the two things that make a sibling set feel deliberate — skipping lookalike spellings and shared initials.

Explore around Ling

Top names of 1981, Ling's peak yearThe 1980s in fullOther names that peaked in 1981Girls' names starting with LChinese Girl NamesChinese Names