Meng
Masculine · “eldest”
Meng is overwhelmingly a boys’ name — 555 boys against 13 girls since 1880.
Meng is a one-syllable Chinese name, a common surname and a given name, carried by the philosopher known in English as Mencius. It has been given in America mostly to boys.
How old is the name Meng?
Meng first appears in US birth records in 1979 — 46 years ago. The typical Meng alive today was born around 1991, making them about 34 years old. About 500 people named Meng are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Meng most popular?
Meng peaked in 1986, reaching #1873 nationally. See the whole 1986 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
Origin, sound and short forms
The story of Meng
The philosopher Meng Ke, Mencius, was Confucius's great successor, and Chinese children learn that his widowed mother moved house three times, first away from a graveyard and then from a market, until they lived beside a school and he began to imitate the scholars. Another Meng belongs to legend: Lady Meng Jiang, whose husband died building the Great Wall, wept so bitterly at the wall that a stretch of it collapsed and revealed his bones. Chinese families brought Meng to America as a surname and a given name.
Meaningscholars disagree
eldest, or dream, depending on the character
Meng can be written with several Chinese characters. As a surname it is usually the character meaning eldest; as a given name it may be the character for dream or others. The romanized spelling does not show which.
Pronouncing Meng
MUNG
One syllable. The Mandarin vowel is between the u of hung and the e of hen, with a tone English does not mark.
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1979
- Most boys named
- 199341 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1873reached in 1986
- Change vs 2010
- 0.0%5 in 2013, from 5
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Meng in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Meng in Mandarin Chinese — transliteration
- Mencius in Latin — related form
Mengs among us
people named Meng are estimated to be alive in the US today
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
Questions parents actually ask
Fashion outlook
Meng sits outside the current charts, and that is its own kind of answer: naming cycles can only date the names they carried up. A name this rare has no decade stamped on it — it cannot go out of fashion, because it was never in.
Based on 146 years of naming cycles. How we read them
The trade-off
- It is short and simple to write.
- It connects to a great philosopher and a famous legend.
- English speakers will say it like meng in meant, which is not the Mandarin sound.
- Many will assume it is a surname.
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Meng
Masculine
Frequently asked
- How many Mengs are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 500 people named Meng are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Meng in 2025?
- Meng is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 boy names.
- Will my child share the name Meng with classmates?
- Meng will almost certainly be the only one in school.
More M names
The most-given names starting with M, all years combined.
Michael#21 · Matthew#32 · Mark#244 · Mason#39 · Martin#335 · Marvin#699 · Melvin#958 · Marcus#258
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Meng? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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