# China (first name)

Source: https://namelineage.com/first-name/china/  
Publisher: Name Lineage. US counts from the Social Security Administration; England and Wales counts from the Office for National Statistics; meaning and etymology from Wiktionary. Data updated 2026-11-11.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Usually given to | girls |
| Origin | not recorded |
| Meaning | “china”, “the chinese”, “qin”, “jin”, “chu”, “names of china”, “chinas”, “porcelain” |
| Pronunciation | /ˈt͡ʃaɪnə/, 2 syllables |
| Nicknames | none recorded |
| Variant spellings | Chin, Chyna |
| US babies named this | 4,618 since 1880 |
| Boys / girls in the US | 10 / 4,608 (100% girls) |
| Babies in England and Wales | 166, 1996 to 2025 |

## Etymology

From Portuguese China, from possibly Venetan Cina probably under influence from Old French Chin, from Classical Persian چین (čīn) under influence from Medieval Latin Sīna (“China”), from Middle Persian 𐭰𐭩𐭭 (Čīn, “China”), from Sanskrit चीन (cīna, “the Chinese; China”) of uncertain etymology. It is usually thought to be derived from Chinese 秦 (Qín) (sm Qín, mc d͡zin, oc *dziŋ, "Qin"), the westernmost ancient Chinese state, but other theories have been proposed, including derivation from 晉 /晋 (jìn) (sm Jìn, mc t͡sinh, oc *tsiŋh, "Jin"), another important ancient state; 荊 /荆 (jīng) (sm Jīng, mc kɹaŋ, oc *kreŋ, "Chu"), the southernmost ancient Chinese state; or Zina, the endonym of the people of the Yelang kingdom. See "Names of China" and "Chinas" at Wikipedia. As a female name, usually derived via china (“porcelain”) and china doll, ultimately from the same source.

## Popularity

The last 15 years of each series. A year is missing when too few babies were given the name for the agency to publish it: five in the US, three in England and Wales.

### United States, girls

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 57 | 2,995 |
| 2012 | 46 | 3,480 |
| 2013 | 44 | 3,525 |
| 2014 | 34 | 4,287 |
| 2015 | 33 | 4,321 |
| 2016 | 33 | 4,364 |
| 2017 | 11 | 9,453 |
| 2018 | 15 | 7,475 |
| 2019 | 18 | 6,480 |
| 2020 | 16 | 6,991 |
| 2021 | 6 | 13,851 |
| 2022 | 14 | 7,720 |
| 2023 | 10 | 9,762 |
| 2024 | 7 | 12,432 |
| 2025 | 8 | 11,148 |

### United States, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 1994 | 5 | 9,021 |
| 1997 | 5 | 9,509 |

### England and Wales, girls

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 1999 | 7 | 2,189 |
| 2000 | 10 | 1,688 |
| 2001 | 11 | 1,617 |
| 2002 | 12 | 1,530 |
| 2003 | 5 | 3,099 |
| 2004 | 16 | 1,383 |
| 2005 | 8 | 2,438 |
| 2006 | 5 | 3,548 |
| 2007 | 11 | 2,085 |
| 2008 | 13 | 1,914 |
| 2009 | 5 | 3,936 |
| 2011 | 4 | 4,764 |
| 2012 | 7 | 3,285 |
| 2013 | 4 | 4,739 |
| 2014 | 5 | 4,003 |

## In other languages

- Arabic: الصِّين
- Armenian: Չինաստան
- Catalan: Xina
- Chinese: 中國 /中国, 神州, 中華文明 /中华文明, 華夏 /华夏
- Danish: Kina
- Estonian: Hiina
- Finnish: Kiina
- Hindi: चीन, चाइना
- Indonesian: Tiongkok, Tionghoa
- Irish: An tSín
- Japanese: 中国
- Korean: 중국, 중국문명
- Norwegian: Kina
- Polish: Chiny
- Portuguese: China
- Romanian: China
- Russian: Кита́й
- Slovene: Kitájska
- Spanish: China
- Swedish: Kina

## People named China

- China Anne McClain, American actress and singer (born 1998)
- China Miéville, English writer, critic, and activist (born 1972)
- China Forbes, American singer, songwriter
- China Moses, American singer and TV host
- China Chow, English actress and model
- China Shavers, American actress
- China Machado, former fashion model, editor and television producer
- China Lee, American actress and model

## How to read these numbers

A count is babies registered with that name in that year, not people alive now, so a name common a century ago can have a large total and few recent births.