Hong
A Chinese name meaning vast, abundant, or prosperous.
Name Census estimates that about 600 living Americans carry the first name Hong. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 69.4% of registrations being female. The average person named Hong today is around 39 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Hong births was 1982 (66 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Hong. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Hong with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
600
~ 1 in 571,257 Americans
Peak year
1982
66 babies that year
Average age
39
years old
2006 SSA rank
#9,020
Tracked since 1923
Census
Hong in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 21,084 people with the first name Hong, which placed it at #1,549 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#1,549
National first-name rank
People counted
21K
21,084 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
7.0
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
98.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Hong
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Hong is Asian/Pacific Islander at 98.4%. The next largest groups are White (0.7%) and Two or More Races (0.5%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Hong described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Hong at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander98.4% · 20,757
- White0.7% · 152
- Two or more races0.5% · 108
- Hispanic or Latino0.2% · 38
- Black or African American0.1% · 29
Gender
Gender distribution for Hong
Hong is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 648 total registrations, 198 (30.6%) were male and 450 (69.4%) were female.
Hong as a male name
- Ranked #9,020 in 2006
- 8 male births in 2006
- Peak: 1982 (20 births)
Hong as a female name
- Ranked #14,162 in 2001
- 6 female births in 2001
- Peak: 1982 (46 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Hong on both sides of the split. Of the 21,082 people counted with this name, 6,188 were male (29.4%) and 14,894 were female (70.6%).
Popularity
Hong: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Hong from the 1920s through to the 2000s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 378 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1980s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Hong by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Hong during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Hongs live
The SSA's state-level files cover 4 states and territories. California, New York, Texas recorded the most babies named Hong, while Louisiana, Texas, New York recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 43 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Hong
The name Hong has its origins in the Chinese language and culture, tracing back to ancient times. It is derived from the Chinese word "hong," which means "vast" or "great." The name is believed to have emerged during the Han Dynasty (206 BC – 220 AD), which was a prosperous and influential period in Chinese history.
Hong was a popular name among the Chinese nobility and imperial families. It was often given to sons in the hope that they would grow up to achieve greatness and make significant contributions to society. The name appeared in various historical records and ancient texts from this era, including the "Book of Han" and the "Records of the Grand Historian."
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Hong was Hong Gong (200 BC – 130 BC), a prominent philosopher and poet during the Han Dynasty. He was known for his works on Confucianism and his influence on the development of Chinese literature.
Another notable figure was Hong Xiuquan (1814 – 1864), a Christian convert and leader of the Taiping Rebellion, one of the bloodiest civil wars in Chinese history. Despite his controversial legacy, he played a significant role in shaping the course of 19th-century China.
In the realm of art and culture, Hong Yi (1880 – 1942) was a renowned Chinese painter and calligrapher who made significant contributions to the development of modern Chinese art. His works were heavily influenced by traditional Chinese aesthetics and techniques.
In more recent times, Hong Lim Park in Singapore is named after Hong Lim (1835 – 1917), a Chinese merchant and community leader who donated the land for the park's establishment. The park has become an important venue for public speeches and events in the city-state.
Another individual worth mentioning is Hong Ren (1932 – 2022), a celebrated Chinese filmmaker and actor. He directed several critically acclaimed films, including "The Herdsman" and "The Displaced Person," which explored themes of rural life and cultural traditions in China.
These are just a few examples of individuals who have carried the name Hong throughout history, each leaving their mark in various fields and contributing to the rich tapestry of Chinese culture and society.
People
Hong + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Hong as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with H
Other first names starting with H with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Hong: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Hong?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 600 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Hong going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 571,257 US residents.
Is Hong a common name?
We classify Hong as "Very Rare". It ranks above 86.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 648 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Hong most popular?
The single biggest year for Hong was 1982, when 66 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Hong is about 39 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Hong in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 21,084 people with the name Hong, or 6.98 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #1,549 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Hong in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Hong?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Hong on both sides of the split. Of the 21,082 people counted with this name, 6,188 were male (29.4%) and 14,894 were female (70.6%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Hong?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Hong is Asian/Pacific Islander at 98.4%. The next largest groups are White (0.7%) and Two or More Races (0.5%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Hong most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Hong in the 2020 Census, accounting for 98.4% (20,757 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Hong in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Hong a female name?
Yes, 69.4% of people registered as Hong in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Hong still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Hong in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Hong can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people have Hong as a first name?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.