How common is the surname Wang?

109,883 people in the United States had the surname Wang in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 2,810 Americans. It ranked 282nd of 162,253 surnames.

Who is the most famous person named Wang?

Vera Wang, American fashion designer (born 1939), followed by Wang Chong.

Where is the surname Wang most common?

Wikidata records people named Wang in the United States, the People's Republic of China and Eastern Han and 3 other countries.

Is the surname Wang getting more or less common?

More common. 67,570 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 109,883 in 2010, up 63%.

The surname Wang

A Chinese surname, carried by 109,883 people in the United States.

Pronounced /wæŋ/ 1 syllable Soundex W520

Every surname held by 100 or more people in the 2010 US Census, most common on the left (162,253 in all). Wang is more common than 99.8% of them.

Origin

Chinese origin

From various romanizations of the Mandarin pronunciation of Chinese 王 (Wáng) or 汪 (Wāng). Doublet of Wong, Heng, Ong, and Vuong. As a Korean surname, from 왕 (wang), from the above.

One of 193 Chinese surnames on this site.

Origin from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0).

How common it is

2010 US Census

There were 109,883 people named Wang in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 2,810 Americans. That is up 63% since 2000, when the Census counted 67,570.

#282

rank among US surnames

109,883

people in 2010

per 100,000 Americans

+62.6%

change since 2000 (was #438)

Rank	Surname	People	1 in
#273	Li	111,786	2,762
#274	Wong	111,371	2,772
#275	Reid	111,360	2,772
#276	Hanson	111,144	2,778
#277	Le	110,967	2,782
#278	McCoy	110,744	2,788
#279	Garrett	110,697	2,789

Who is named Wang

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

95% of people named Wang identified as Asian and Pacific Islander, 2.6% as white (not Hispanic) and 1.5% as two or more races.

Asian and Pacific Islander 95%
White (not Hispanic) 2.6%
Two or more races 1.5%
Hispanic or Latino (any race) 0.3%
Black (not Hispanic) 0.3%
American Indian and Alaska Native 0.0%

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

Famous Wangs

31 notable people on Wikidata, most written-about first

Vera Wang
American fashion designer (born 1939)
Wang Chong
1st century Chinese meteorologist, astronomer, and philosopher, 27–97
Wang Qishan
10th Vice President of the People's Republic of China from 2018 to 2023
Alexander Wang
American fashion designer (born 1983)
Wang Yang
9th Chairman of Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, born 1955
Garrett Wang
American actor, born 1968
Wayne Wang
American film director, born 1949
An Wang
American businessman (1920–1990)
Taylor G. Wang
American materials engineer and astronaut, born 1940
Lulu Wang
Asian-American filmmaker, born 1983
Empress Wang
1st century AD Chinese empress, daughter of emperor Wang Mang, -7–23
Ben Wang
American-Chinese actor (born 2000)

Notable Wangs come mostly from the United States (14), the People's Republic of China (6) and Eastern Han (2).

Spellings and sound-alikes

Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling

Surnames that sound like Wang

Wang has the Soundex code W520, the code US census indexes have used since the 1930s. Every surname with code W520.

Other Chinese surnames

All 193 Chinese surnames

Questions

Where does the surname Wang come from?: From various romanizations of the Mandarin pronunciation of Chinese 王 (Wáng) or 汪 (Wāng). Doublet of Wong, Heng, Ong, and Vuong. As a Korean surname, from 왕 (wang), from the above.
How common is the surname Wang?: 109,883 people in the United States had the surname Wang in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 2,810 Americans. It ranked 282nd of 162,253 surnames.
What ethnicity is the surname Wang?: In the 2010 Census, 95% of people named Wang identified as Asian and Pacific Islander, and 2.6% as white (not Hispanic).
Who is the most famous person named Wang?: Vera Wang, American fashion designer (born 1939), followed by Wang Chong.
Where is the surname Wang most common?: Wikidata records people named Wang in the United States, the People's Republic of China and Eastern Han and 3 other countries.
How do you pronounce Wang?: Wang is /wæŋ/, one syllable.
Is the surname Wang getting more or less common?: More common. 67,570 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 109,883 in 2010, up 63%.