Pang
A Chinese masculine name representing the ideas of stability and sustenance.
Name Census estimates that about 595 living Americans carry the first name Pang. It is a predominantly female name (98.2% of registrations). The average person named Pang today is around 38 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Pang births was 1990 (45 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Pang. 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.
People living today
595
~ 1 in 576,058 Americans
Peak year
1990
45 babies that year
Average age
38
years old
1990 SSA rank
#8,649
Tracked since 1978
Census
Pang in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,699 people with the first name Pang, which placed it at #8,532 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
#8,532
National first-name rank
People counted
1.7K
1,699 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.6
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
98.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Pang
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Pang is Asian/Pacific Islander at 98.1%. The next largest groups are White (1.2%) and Black (0.3%). 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 Pang 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 Pang at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander98.1% · 1,666
- White1.2% · 20
- Black or African American0.3% · 5
- Two or more races0.2% · 4
- Hispanic or Latino0.1% · 2
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.1% · 2
Gender
Gender distribution for Pang
Pang leans heavily female at 98.2% of total registrations, but 11 boys have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Pang as a male name
- Ranked #9,126 in 1990
- 5 male births in 1990
- Peak: 1986 (6 births)
Pang as a female name
- Ranked #8,649 in 1999
- 11 female births in 1999
- Peak: 1984 (44 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Pang leans strongly female. 1,395 people counted with this name were female (82.4%), compared with 297 male bearers (17.6%).
Popularity
Pang: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Pang from the 1970s through to the 1990s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 368 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1980s peak, Pang remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Pang 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 Pang during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Pangs live
The SSA's state-level files cover 4 states and territories. California, Minnesota, Wisconsin recorded the most babies named Pang, while Rhode Island, Wisconsin, Minnesota recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 97 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Pang
The name Pang has its origins in the Chinese language and culture, with its earliest known usage dating back to ancient times. The word "pang" in Mandarin Chinese means "prosperous" or "flourishing," which suggests that the name was likely given to children with the hope of a prosperous life.
In ancient Chinese texts, the name Pang can be found in historical records and literary works from as early as the Warring States period (475–221 BC). One notable example is the philosopher Pang Tong, who lived during the late Eastern Han dynasty (25-220 AD) and is renowned for his strategic wisdom and contributions to the art of warfare.
The name Pang also appears in Buddhist scriptures, particularly in the context of Zen Buddhism. The famous Zen master Pang Yun (740-808 AD), also known as Pangyun, was a renowned figure in the Tang Dynasty and is credited with establishing the Hongzhou school of Zen Buddhism.
Throughout Chinese history, there have been several notable figures bearing the name Pang. One such individual was Pang Xuan (585-676 AD), a prominent scholar and calligrapher during the Tang Dynasty. Another was Pang Anshi (1042-1099 AD), a renowned literary theorist and poet of the Song Dynasty.
In more recent times, the name Pang has been carried by individuals such as Pang Qingming (1692-1765), a renowned landscape painter of the Qing Dynasty, and Pang Zhonglie (1639-1708), a prominent military strategist and general during the same period.
It is worth noting that while the name Pang has its roots in Chinese culture, it has also been adopted and used in other parts of the world, particularly in regions with significant Chinese diaspora populations.
People
Pang + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Pang as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with P
Other first names starting with P with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Pang: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Pang?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 595 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Pang 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 576,058 US residents.
Is Pang a common name?
We classify Pang 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, 626 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Pang most popular?
The single biggest year for Pang was 1990, when 45 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Pang is about 38 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Pang in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,699 people with the name Pang, or 0.56 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #8,532 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 Pang 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 Pang?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Pang leans strongly female. 1,395 people counted with this name were female (82.4%), compared with 297 male bearers (17.6%). 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 Pang?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Pang is Asian/Pacific Islander at 98.1%. The next largest groups are White (1.2%) and Black (0.3%). 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 Pang most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Pang in the 2020 Census, accounting for 98.1% (1,666 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 Pang in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Pang a female name?
Yes, 98.2% of people registered as Pang 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 Pang still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Pang 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 Pang 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 share the name Pang?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.