Holding steady.
Popularity of Yong since 1936
Babies named Yong per year in U.S. Social Security records. Raw births topped out in 1993, but relative to how few babies were recorded back then, Yong's real moment was 1980.
Data table (by decade)
| Decade | Girls | Boys |
|---|---|---|
| 1930s | 5 | 0 |
| 1940s | 20 | 21 |
| 1950s | 75 | 6 |
| 1960s | 14 | 28 |
| 1970s | 5 | 35 |
| 1980s | 5 | 92 |
| 1990s | 0 | 81 |
| 2000s | 0 | 38 |
| 2010s | 0 | 0 |
| 2020s | 0 | 0 |
Meaning & origin
Yong is a Chinese name with two possible meanings derived from different characters: 'eternal' (永) or 'brave' (勇). Data from the U.S. Social Security Administration shows that the name first appeared in records in 1941, with its peak year of usage occurring in 1980. Despite this peak, Yong has never ranked in the top 1000 names. The trajectory of its usage has been stable over the decades, with no significant resurgence. While the name is frequently used in Chinese communities, top states for the name are not recorded in the data due to its rarity. As a single-syllable name, Yong pairs gracefully with both longer and shorter modern Chinese and English names.
Yong has two primary origins in Chinese. From the character 永 (yǒng) it means 'eternal, perpetual.' Alternatively, it can derive from 勇 (yǒng) meaning 'brave, valiant.' As a Chinese given name, it is unisex and can be combined with other characters to form compound names. Its use in English-speaking countries primarily stems from Chinese diaspora communities.
Sibling names for Yong
Names that share Yong's style, for a brother or sister.
