The Ling surname
In the 2010 U.S. Census, 9,127 people carried this name — #3,887 among all U.S. surnames, about 1 in every 32,400 people counted. That is up 11% from 8,221 in 2000.
Where the name comes from
The origin of the Ling surname
From Mandarin 令 (Lìng)， 凌 (Líng) or Eastern Min 林 (Lìng).
From Wiktionary, the free dictionary (en.wiktionary.org) — entry «Ling» (English), by Wiktionary contributors · licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0) · excerpt, lightly adapted.
In Switzerland’s population statistics
56 people named Ling live in Switzerland.
They live in 6 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 France’s civil register
France’s register of deaths holds 55 people named Ling.
21 of them were born outside France. Those born in France came from 10 départements, most often Bas-Rhin.
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 Poland’s population register
48 people named Ling have a registered home in Poland.
Of the 110 in Poland’s national register, these are the ones with a permanent address on file. They live in 4 of Poland’s 16 voivodeships, most of all in Kuyavian-Pomeranian.
Too few records to say where it concentrates region by region — these are plain counts, not shares.
Where they live today
PESEL register, Ministry of Digital Affairs of Poland (dane.gov.pl) — CC0 · living people by voivodeship of permanent residence, 20 January 2026.
In Argentina’s national register
At least 30 people named Ling 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
1,191 people named Ling 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).
Who carried it
People named Ling,
with a public archive behind them.
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Ling Tangzuo d. 1132 · politician
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Ling Jingxia d. 1175
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Ling Zhun d. 808
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Ling Lu d. 1656
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Ling Jiexi d. 1862
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Ling Mingjie d. 1861
Wikidata (CC0) · 10 lives in all are documented under this name.
Nearby in the index
Surnames next to Ling.
- Linden 6,276 · U.S. census
- Linder 13,830 · U.S. census
- Lindner 7,428 · U.S. census
- Lindor 780 · U.S. census
- Line 3,231 · U.S. census
- Linet 101 · U.S. census
- Linge 330 · U.S. census
- Linger 1,962 · U.S. census
- Lingua 102 · U.S. census
- Link 22,137 · U.S. census
- Linke 1,962 · U.S. census
- Linne 612 · U.S. census
When the index is not enough
This page says where Ling 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.