Ong
From the Malay language, meaning "prosperous" or "successful".
Name Census estimates that about 50 living Americans carry the first name Ong. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Ong today is around 34 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Ong births was 1989 (14 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Ong. 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.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Ong. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
50
~ 1 in 6,855,087 Americans
Peak year
1989
14 babies that year
Average age
34
years old
1999 SSA rank
#16,192
Tracked since 1989
Census
Ong in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 395 people with the first name Ong, which placed it at #24,413 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
#24,413
National first-name rank
People counted
395
395 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
95.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Ong
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Ong is Asian/Pacific Islander at 95.9%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (1.3%) and White (1.0%). 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 Ong 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 Ong at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander95.9% · 379
- Hispanic or Latino1.3% · 5
- White1.0% · 4
- Black or African American1.0% · 4
- Two or more races0.8% · 3
Popularity
Ong: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Ong from the 1980s through to the 1990s, spanning 2 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 38 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Ong 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 Ong during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Ongs live
Origin
Meaning and history of Ong
The name Ong has its origins in various Asian cultures and languages. It is believed to have derived from the Chinese surname Wang or Wong, which can be traced back to the ancient Zhou Dynasty (c. 1046 – 256 BC). The name was likely adopted and adapted by different ethnic groups in Southeast Asia, particularly in regions with significant Chinese influence or migration.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Ong was Ong Sum Ping, a prominent Malaysian entrepreneur and philanthropist who lived from 1857 to 1918. He was a successful businessman and played a crucial role in the development of Kuala Lumpur's tin mining industry.
Another notable figure was Ong Teng Cheong, the fifth President of Singapore, who served from 1993 to 1999. He was born in 1936 and had a distinguished career in the Singapore Armed Forces before entering politics.
In the field of literature, Ong Su Ching (1918-2012) was a renowned Malaysian writer and poet, known for her contributions to the Malay literary scene. Her works often explored themes of identity, culture, and the human experience.
Moving to the realm of sports, Ong Beng Hee (born 1954) was a Malaysian squash player who achieved significant success in the 1970s and 1980s. He won numerous tournaments, including the British Open Squash Championships in 1976 and 1980.
Lastly, Ong Tee Hiong (1940-2023) was a prominent Malaysian architect and urban planner. He was widely recognized for his innovative and sustainable design approaches, and his work has left a lasting impact on the built environment in Malaysia and beyond.
While the name Ong has its roots in Asian cultures, it has gained recognition across various regions and disciplines, with individuals bearing this name making significant contributions in their respective fields.
People
Ong + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Ong as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with O
Other first names starting with O with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Ong: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Ong?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 50 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Ong 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 6,855,087 US residents.
Is Ong a common name?
We classify Ong as "Very Rare". It ranks above 54.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 52 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Ong most popular?
The single biggest year for Ong was 1989, when 14 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Ong is about 34 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Ong in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 395 people with the name Ong, or 0.13 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #24,413 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 Ong 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 Ong?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Ong on both sides of the split. Of the 402 people counted with this name, 102 were male (25.4%) and 300 were female (74.6%). 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 Ong?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Ong is Asian/Pacific Islander at 95.9%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (1.3%) and White (1.0%). 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 Ong most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Ong in the 2020 Census, accounting for 95.9% (379 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 Ong in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Ong a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Ong 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 Ong still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Ong 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 Ong 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 Americans are named Ong?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.