Jung: meaning “a righteous man”, origin & popularity

Meaning & origin

What it means

One Korean interpretation is “a righteous man.”

Where it comes from

An origin associated with this spelling is Korean.

How it developed

From German Jung.

Adapted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0)

The story

Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1937. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin.

From dated birth records

Jung through the years

Babies since 1880: 305; 154 boys · 151 girls
Most popular year: 1982; 17 babies
2025: 0; Outside the ranked list
2021–25 vs 2016–20: —; Too few births to compare

Boys Girls

Jung in U.S. Social Security birth records, 1937–2025, per million births of each sex. Years with fewer than five births for a sex are not published and appear as zero. Use the arrow keys to step through years.

By the numbers

The most recent published U.S. birth count for boys is 6 in 2002. Later missing counts do not mean the name went unused. Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 9,636 as a first name in 2020; 25,281 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.

Jung’s family of names

In English usage, Jung as a surname shares an earlier linguistic root with Young. In English usage, Jung as a surname has a related form in CHUNG. In French usage, Jung as a surname has a related form in JEONG.

Walk Jung’s family in the name graph

Inner ring: spellings · middle: nicknames and forms · outer: across languages.

Hover or tab through the constellation to see how each name is related. Bigger dots are names more people in the U.S. share.

Around the world

Jung has relatives in 5 languages. Lines run from its Korean roots to each of them.

14 related names in 5 languages. Point at a dot, or tab to the map and use the arrow keys.

Each dot marks where a language is rooted, not where people with the name live today. Bigger dots hold more names. Language locations from Glottolog (CC BY 4.0); map from Natural Earth.

Nicknames & forms 11

Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.

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Spellings & scripts 1

The same name written differently, including transliterations into other scripts.

Юнґoriginal script · Ukrainian

Across languages 5

Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.

People named Jung

Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.

Similar names

If you love Jung, these share its style, era, origin or sound, from outside its own family.

Korean

Sibling ideas

Names that share Jung’s feel without repeating its first letter or rhyming with it.

A brother for Jung

A sister for Jung

Your shortlist

Jung