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Name Lineage

    The surname Singh

    A Punjabi surname, carried by 116,749 people in the United States.

    Pronounced /sɪŋ/ 1 syllable Soundex S520

    Singh: #260 of 162,253 surnames in the 2010 US Census #1Smith#160,975Doriott#10Martinez#100Jimenez#1,000Archer#10,001Dubon Singh #260, 116,749 people Singh: #260 of 162,253 surnames in the 2010 US Census #1Smith#160,975Doriott Singh #260, 116,749 people
    Every surname held by 100 or more people in the 2010 US Census, most common on the left (162,253 in all). Singh is more common than 99.8% of them.

    Origin

    Punjabi origin

    From Hindi सिंघ (siṅgh, “lion”) or Punjabi ਸਿੰਘ (siṅgh, “lion”). Doublet of Sinha.

    One of 39 Punjabi surnames on this site.

    Origin from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0).

    How common it is

    2010 US Census

    There were 116,749 people named Singh in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 2,645 Americans. That is up 61% since 2000, when the Census counted 72,642.

    #260
    rank among US surnames
    116,749
    people in 2010
    40
    per 100,000 Americans
    +60.7%
    change since 2000 (was #396)
    RankSurnamePeople1 in
    #251Franklin120,6212,560
    #252Carlson120,5522,561
    #253Austin119,7062,579
    #254Dominguez119,3042,588
    #255Carr119,0762,593
    #256Lawson119,0532,593
    #257Jacobs118,6142,603

    Who is named Singh

    Race and Hispanic origin as people reported it in the 2010 Census

    83% of people named Singh identified as Asian and Pacific Islander, 4.8% as two or more races and 4.5% as Black (not Hispanic).

    • Asian and Pacific Islander 83%
    • Two or more races 4.8%
    • Black (not Hispanic) 4.5%
    • White (not Hispanic) 4.3%
    • Hispanic or Latino (any race) 2.5%
    • American Indian and Alaska Native 1.1%

    Compare: most common surnames among Asian and Pacific Islander Americans.

    Famous Singhs

    6 notable people on Wikidata, most written-about first

    • Nongthombam Biren Singh
      12th Chief Minister of Manipur, born 1961
    • Niharika Singh
      Actress, born 1982
    • Kamal Narain Singh
      22nd Chief Justice of India, 1926–2022
    • Ananta Singh
      Bengali revolutionary, 1903–1979
    • Madan Gopal Singh
      An Indian composer, singer, lyricist, actor, screenwriter, film theorist, editor and polyg, born 1950
    • Hannah Simone
      British actress, born 1980

    Notable Singhs come mostly from India (4), Dominion of India (1) and Canada (1).

    Spellings and sound-alikes

    Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling

    Variant spellings

    Surnames that sound like Singh

    Singh has the Soundex code S520, the code US census indexes have used since the 1930s. Every surname with code S520.

    Other Punjabi surnames

    All 39 Punjabi surnames

    Questions

    Where does the surname Singh come from?
    From Hindi सिंघ (siṅgh, “lion”) or Punjabi ਸਿੰਘ (siṅgh, “lion”). Doublet of Sinha.
    How common is the surname Singh?
    116,749 people in the United States had the surname Singh in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 2,645 Americans. It ranked 260th of 162,253 surnames.
    What ethnicity is the surname Singh?
    In the 2010 Census, 83% of people named Singh identified as Asian and Pacific Islander, and 4.8% as two or more races.
    Who is the most famous person named Singh?
    Nongthombam Biren Singh, 12th Chief Minister of Manipur, followed by Niharika Singh.
    Where is the surname Singh most common?
    Wikidata records people named Singh in India, Dominion of India and Canada.
    How do you pronounce Singh?
    Singh is /sɪŋ/, one syllable.
    Is the surname Singh getting more or less common?
    More common. 72,642 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 116,749 in 2010, up 61%.
    What are other spellings of Singh?
    Sing.
    Is Singh also a first name?
    Yes. Singh is used as a first name as well as a surname; its first-name page has the meaning and how many babies were given it.