The Chin surname
In the 2010 U.S. Census, 27,487 people carried this name — #1,279 among all U.S. surnames, about 1 in every 10,700 people counted. That is up 7% from 25,673 in 2000.
Where the name comes from
The origin of the Chin surname
Hakka 陳／陈 (Chhṳ̀n), Taishanese 陳 /陈 (cin³), Cantonese 錢／钱 (cin4), Mandarin 金 (Chin¹), and Mandarin 秦 (Chʻin²).
From Wiktionary, the free dictionary (en.wiktionary.org) — entry «Chin» (English), by Wiktionary contributors · licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0) · excerpt, lightly adapted.
In France’s civil register
France’s register of deaths holds 88 people named Chin.
Most of them — 52 — were born outside France. Those born in France came from 11 départements, most often Paris.
Too few records to say where it concentrates region by region — these are plain counts, not shares.
Where they were born
Fichier des personnes décédées, INSEE — Licence Ouverte 2.0 · deaths recorded in France since 1970, by place of birth.
In Switzerland’s population statistics
85 people named Chin live in Switzerland.
They live in 10 of Switzerland’s 26 cantons, most of all in Zurich.
Too few records to say where it concentrates region by region — these are plain counts, not shares.
Where they live today
Swiss Federal Statistical Office (FSO), «Surnames of the permanent resident population by canton», 2025, opendata.swiss/en/dataset/nachnamen-der-standigen-wohnbevolkerung-nach-kanton3 · names with fewer than 3 bearers in a canton are not published.
In Argentina’s national register
At least 32 people named Chin live in Argentina.
RENAPER only publishes a name in a province when more than ten people there share it, so the real number is higher. Most of them live in City of Buenos Aires.
Too few records to say where it concentrates region by region — these are plain counts, not shares.
Where they live today
RENAPER (National Registry of Persons, Argentina), surnames of residents by province, December 2021 — CC BY 4.0.
In the Nordic population registers
54 people named Chin is counted in Sweden.
Sweden’s figure is from 31 December 2022, the last count Statistics Sweden published.
Counted, by country
Own calculations based on data from Statistics Sweden (SCB), surnames with at least two bearers, 31 December 2022 — CC BY 4.0 (names with 20 or more bearers shown).
In print
Chin in American newspapers,
1908–1917.
Chronicling America, Library of Congress — digitised newspapers in the public domain · 731,674 pages in all carry the name.
Who carried it
People named Chin,
with a public archive behind them.
-
Arthur Chin 1913–1997 · military personnel -
Lily Chin 1920–2002 · activist -
Chin Shunshin 1924–2015 · writer -
Chin Shunshin 1924–2015 · writer
-
Chin Shunshin 1924–2015 · writer
-
Molly Chin 1922– · badminton player
Wikidata and Wikimedia Commons (CC0) · 10 lives in all are documented under this name.
Nearby in the index
Surnames next to Chin.
- Chico 3,308 · U.S. census
- Chicoine 1,574 · U.S. census
- Chicon 112 · U.S. census
- Chier 127 · U.S. census
- Chierici 136 · U.S. census
- Chiesa 1,080 · U.S. census
- China 813 · U.S. census
- Chinault 265 · U.S. census
- Chinchilla 3,561 · U.S. census
- Chini 240 · U.S. census
- Chiocca 185 · U.S. census
- Chiodi 316 · U.S. census
When the index is not enough
This page says where Chin is.
A volume says what happened to it.
Every page in the index is free and stays free. The Heritage Volume is the long form: the full paper trail, the arms, the crossing — bound, and yours.