Name Awesome

Ming

UnisexBoys' nameGirls' name

Bright, light, clear or inscribe, engrave

Ming has been given to 491 babies in the U.S. since 1920. 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 14 recorded. It's used for both sexes: 71% boys, 29% girls all-time.

Babies named Ming, 2024

1 in 418,000

Ming over time, 1880–2025

BoysGirls
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 Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.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 — Ming over time

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

19202024

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.

Ming: meaning, origin, and history

Bright, light, clear or inscribe, engrave

Deeper origin not confirmed in the cited records

What Ming means

Ming means “bright, light, clear or inscribe, engrave”.

Documented naming usage and pronunciation

Ming is used in Chinese.

Another recorded pronunciation is /miŋ/ for Ming.

Origin, language, and formation

Ming is used in English.

Ming comes through Mandarin 明.

Pronunciation and spelling

In English, Ming is pronounced /mɪŋ/.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 349 boys were recorded with the name Ming between 1920 and 2024. Its highest annual count was 14 in 1981; its best national rank was #3,159 in 1981.

In the United States, 142 girls were recorded with the name Ming between 1971 and 2013. Its highest annual count was 12 in 2000; its best national rank was #7,162 in 1981.

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.

Wiktionary material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

How common is Ming?

Ming 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 418,000
8 of 3,342,801 births
Among boys only
1 in 215,000
<0.01% of boys
Rank, 2024
Unranked
Fewer than 5 uses
Coin-flip room size
289,633 kids
Even odds of a second one

Where Ming sits on the popularity scale

Rarest published (5 a year)#1 — Liam (20,818)

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 289,633 children born in 2024 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Ming. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Mings were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Ming was born before 1994 — so the typical Ming is around 31 today.

Median birth year
1994
About 31 years old
Biggest decade
1990s
22.9% of all use
Born in the last 25 years
39.3%
Spread across generations
Recorded since 1950
344
People you could plausibly meet
Choose a decade

1990s — 22.9% of all recorded uses (80).

Is Ming 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 (14)
Years since peak
44
Years
Year-to-year steadiness
Shifting
18.3% average annual change
Best rank ever
#3,159
1981

Spellings of Ming

Ming is not the most common spelling — Mike is, with 52.6% against Ming's 0.09%.

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 Ming is used — boys

Across 1910–2025, Ming was most concentrated in California — about 1 in — boys, against 1 in 750,160 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 boys 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. Ming has too little recent state data to map, so this covers all years from 1910.

Where Ming is used — girls

Across 1910–2025, Ming was most concentrated in New York — about 1 in — girls, against 1 in 1,042,200 across all states with data.

00 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1New 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. Ming has too little recent state data to map, so this covers all years from 1910.

Ming around the world

Where Ming 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
    1996–2025
    #4,275
    in 2025
  • Canada
    1991–2014
    #1,791
    in 2014
  • South Australia
    1975–2010
    #494
    in 2010

Popularity data from Office for National Statistics, Statistics Canada and Consumer and Business Services (South Australia). ONS data under Open Government Licence v3.0. StatCan data under Statistics Canada Open Licence. CBS SA data under CC BY 4.0.

Ming by the numbers

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

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025
Unranked
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
—
Best rank ever
#3,159
1981
Peak year
1981
14 that year
First recorded
1920
Last recorded
2024
All-time count
349
Count in 2025
Under 5

As a girl's name

Rank in 2025
Unranked
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
—
Best rank ever
#7,162
1981
Peak year
2000
12 that year
First recorded
1971
Last recorded
2013
All-time count
142
Count in 2025
Under 5

Names similar to Ming

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

MinaMingoMinhAkingMinMinerMinatoBingMikingMinasWingMinoruYingReddingMinnieMinorKiplingHenningMindyMinusMinosErlingMinoMinard

Sibling names for Ming

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 Ming

Top names of 1981, Ming's peak yearThe 1980s in fullOther names that peaked in 1981Boys' names starting with MChinese Boy NamesChinese Girl NamesChinese Names