Given name & surname
Chang
“one who is unhindered”
Chang is used as a given name and a surname. One Chinese interpretation is “one who is unhindered.”
Original Mandarin常
Meaning & origin
What it means
One Chinese interpretation is “one who is unhindered.”
Where it comes from
An origin associated with this spelling is Chinese.
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1940. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin.
From dated birth records
Chang through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 312
- 307 boys · 5 girls
- Most popular year
- 1982
- 17 babies
- 2025
- 0
- Outside the ranked list
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- —
- Too few births to compare
By the numbers
The most recent published U.S. birth count for boys is 6 in 2006. Later missing counts do not mean the name went unused. Its largest published annual count for boys was 16 in 1994. Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 7,243 as a first name in 2020; 83,382 as a surname in 2020.
From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.
Chang’s family of names
In Indonesian usage, Chang as a surname shares an earlier linguistic root with CHONG. In English usage, Chang as a surname has a related form in CHUNG. In Filipino usage, Chang as a surname shares an earlier linguistic root with Chan.
Inner ring: spellings · middle: nicknames and forms · outer: across languages.
Around the world
Chang has relatives in 7 languages. Lines run from its Chinese roots to each of them.
21 related names in 7 languages. Point at a dot, or tab to the map and use the arrow keys.
Nicknames & forms 7
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
Spellings & scripts 1
The same name written differently, including transliterations into other scripts.
Across languages 17
Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.
People named Chang
- Cai ChangChinese politician (1900-1990)
- Wang ChangChinese badminton playerborn 2001
- Chang Chang-sunSouth Korean wrestler1942–2026
- Chang-Rae LeeAmerican novelistborn 1965
- Gao ChangChinese swimmerborn 1987
- Zhao ChangChinese painter960–1016
- Chang Sung Kimactorborn 1960
- Shu ChangChinese footballerborn 1977
- Liu Zhang198 BC–173 BC
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
Appears in
Similar names
If you love Chang, these share its style, era, origin or sound, from outside its own family.
Ching
Ching is a surname from Cantonese. It is used in English, Tagalog, and Atayal.
74% boys · 26% girls
Wang
“king, prince”
>99% boys
Chun
“born during spring” · “born during the spring”
82% boys · 18% girls
Chao
“one who surpasses others” · “the great one”
89% boys · 11% girls
Heng
“an eternal beauty”
>99% boys
Cheng
Cheng is a surname from Cantonese, ultimately from Mandarin. It is used in English, French, and Tagalog.
>99% boys
Giang
Giang is a unisex given name from Chinese. It is used in Vietnamese.
84% boys · 16% girls
Ming
Ming is a masculine given name from Mandarin.
>99% boys